Utility Sink/Plumbing Questions

[paulthomas]

I'm not sure whether this should be in the Do It Yourself forum or not? Anyway, I want to put a utility sink near my sump and as far as I can tell I have no hot/cold water pipes nearby. But there is a bathroom two stories up, so they can't be too far, right? I went to HD to ask for some help and even hung out for one of their plumbing classes. I took pictures of where I want the sump to go and someone there suggested I to tap into my sprinkler line for coldwater and have the sink's drain go to one of the sewage pipes. The sprinkler line is a little tempting, but I don't want any trouble because of it in the future. Is draining to the sewage line as easy as pulling the plug off and running pvc to it? That's what the HD guy said.

Spot for sump:

Here's the closest drain. I want to put the sink to the left of it:

Close up:

I've also got these drains in the next room, but the closer they are to the camera, the farther they are from the sump. The one in the distance, which is about 20' from where the sump would go, has a bathroom above it though:

The HD guy said that I'd be looking at a minimum of $2K to have a utility sink installed with seperate hot/cold pipes, a drain, a vent going to the roof and all the proper permits. Of course, I'd like to keep the costs down. Any suggestions?

TIA,
Paul

 

[NateHanson]

If you keep the sink close to one of those sewage stacks then you won't have to have a separate vent pipe. The stack will be your vent. (I think no more than 4' from a vent is code, but in practical terms, maybe up to 10' would work?) If you're far from a vent the sink won't drain well.

It should be simple to tie into those stacks, but those caps may be leaded in place. If they're threaded it's easy. If they're embeded in molten lead and flax packing, then it's harder to melt/break out. Takes a really big torch to soften something that big and with so much cast iron attached to it. You can get rubber cuffs that go inside cast iron pipe to adapt it to PVC pipe. Very easy to use once you get the cast iron pipe opened up.

I don't see any problem with hooking up to the cold water line feeding your lawn sprinkler. Are those your water meters in the picture? Just make sure you keep all connections on the downstream side of your meters. Once you get the hang of sweating copper pipe, it's no big deal to bring hot water over from the nearest pipe, even if it's 30 feet. Just takes three lengths of copper. Supply is easy. The drain is the tricky part, because your locations and height are restricted by where the stacks are.

 

[paulthomas]

Thanks Nate.

I'd like to keep the sink near the drain stack in the second pic. From there it'd be about 12' to the sump, which is manageable. I have a friend who is a retired master plumber, but he says he won't touch another pipe as long as he lives. He doesn't even work on his own house. I guess he really hated the job. He was also very adamant about sticking to code.

 

[ZReef]

I just had a utility sink installed in my basement. Cold water was right from the hose line going to the outside of the house and hot water was from a pipe luckily located right overhead. Even with a pump to push the water up to my drain it was about half that quote you got.

If you want I can give you the plumber's number. He is an AWESOME guy, real nice, and does great work. He basically dropped what he was doing at home on the weekend to come over when we needed him to work on the installation.

 

[ScottM]

I. Even with a pump to push the water up to my drain....

can you describe what your setup is like?
i have a sink i need to pump up to my drain as well and looking for options.

 

[ZReef]

Sorry for the long wait for reply. Totally forgot about this thread.

I will take some pictures of my setup to show you how it is plumbed...

 

[ZReef]

Ok took lots of pictures.
Here you go...









^^^^^^^^This tee and valve is for my RO/DI unit which will be in the white cabinet.

 

[ZReef]

Here is an upclose picture of the pump. The green thing on the line going to the drain is a check valve. The other line coming out of the pump box is an air vent.



and here is a picture of the manual with the pump manufacturer listed on it.

 

[hunter57]

The installation looks ok to me but I wouldn't dump any large amounts of salt waterdown the drain because it will ruin your pump very quickly. These pumps are not bronze and should not be used for salt water. Other tha that I'm sure having a sink there is very convenient.

 

[hunter57]

Too Fly:
You shouldn't have to tap into your irrigation supply because your domestic water is right next to it.

 

[ScottM]

The installation looks ok to me but I wouldn't dump any large amounts of salt waterdown the drain because it will ruin your pump very quickly. These pumps are not bronze and should not be used for salt water. Other tha that I'm sure having a sink there is very convenient.

have any sugggestions for an alternative pump setup that can handle saltwater?

 

[littlep93056]

As long as you flush with fresh water after the salt & the pump doesn't sit in saltwater the pump will last a long time

 

[ZReef]

Thanks for the advice. Yeah, I don't plan on dumping anything hazardous into the sink or anything large. It is mainly just for convenience for cleanup and also to run my RO/DI filter closer to my tank and not in a bathtub upstairs. So far it has been very handy.