Problems with basement "up flush" toilet install

[drjoe]

Hello,

Last fall we had a full bathroom installed in the basement. It drains into a grinder/sump in a barrel dug (I think it is a 30 gallon drum) into the basement floor. It pumps up into the main sewage line which goes out to the septic system in the yard.

Also feeding in to the main sewage line from the first floor of the house is a kitchen sink, bathroom sink, toilet, shower, and clothes washer drain. There is a vent line from the main sewage line that extends through the roof.

When the system was first installed, we noticed that at times the bathroom toilet upstairs would siphon (drain) when the sump pump ran. Not every time, but often. The installer told us that air was working out of the system, and that the problem would go away.

That was the status for most of the winter. Now that spring has hit, things have gotten much worse. Now water is being blown out of the traps in the kitchen sink and bathtub, and the toilet is burping large bubble of gas (and if you flush the upstairs toilet at the same time that the sump starts running, you get a small fountain).

The plumber has been giving us a hard time about coming out and inspecting the system.

Is this a case of:

Needing to clear the vent pipe with a plumbers snake?
A problem with the septic holding tank?
A problem with the install?

Any advice you can give me is much appreciated!


Thanks,

Joe

[Tom R]

I'm no authority on plumbing by any means, but I believe it needs it's own separate vent, as opposed to a re-vent (which would tie back in to the main vent, but it would have to 'connect' at a level above all other fixtures). Right now, because the plumber 'cheated' and didn't want to install a vent, you're 'wet-venting' with an existing drain line, therefore causing 'siphoning'. It's probably 'clogging' also (less air passage - more siphoning). Either way, it's on the plumber. He got paid to do a job, it didn't work right from the git-go, and is only getting worse. Remind him that your sh*t is his 'bread and butter'.

[Rich]

I would exactly agree with you Tom.

[linear]

Remind him that your sh*t is his 'bread and butter'.

Wow that's eloquent. I'm gonna have to use that line, thanks.