Basement Brew Sink : What kind of drain pump?

[abarnett]

I've clogged SWMBO's laundry sink one too many times from cleaning trub and gunk out of kegs and kettles, so I'm looking at getting my own utility sink in the basement. This will be below the level of the drain, which means I'll need a pump. (Although, it's less than 5 feet below the drain, so the pump doesn't have to do much.)

I've seen pictures of other basement setups that have the pump box. My question is, what kind of pump are people using for sinks in brew areas? Has anyone gotten a "light-duty" one and been fine? Or has anyone wished for a heavy duty model? Prices on the pumps have quite a range, so there's some cash at stake here.

Some examples at Amazon:
$200 light duty
$260 light duty
$330 light/medium duty

 

[aludwig]

I was thinking about installing one of the larger ones and building out a basement restroom at the same time. But that will be a couple grand all together (and therefore isn't going to happen any time soon). The smaller pump might be a better short-term solution. I can't see why it wouldn't work since the biggest solid I normally push would be small bits of spent grain, which my sump pump currently has no issue with.

So I am also interested if anyone has used one of the gray-water pumps with success.

 

[Chrisl77]

When I put a utility sink in my basement there was no way I was going to pay $200 + for a utility sink pump box. I made my own using this pump + a check valve inside a homer bucket. It has worked out great for a year now with no problems. I put trub, yeast dumps from my conical, and bits of grain while washing things out.

 

[abarnett]

I like the Harbor Freight idea - especially since I have a 25% off coupon. What check valve did you get? Does it go on the sink (inlet) or drain (outlet)? Do you need to vent the bucket? Pictures?

I also did a little more looking, and they have pumps designed for utility sinks (search Amazon for HPUSP125) that are in the $180 range.

 

[k_mcarthur]

The check valve goes on the pump outlet as close to the pump as possible. It keeps from the waste in the line from simply running back in the drain box filling it up and turning the pump back on again. I did this exact same thing with a $70 pump from harbor freight, $10 flexible pump line from home depot, $10 check valve HD, and a few bucks for bucket and p-trap. Almost forgot, you need a studor vent for the bucket, its like $25 at HD. The bucket needs to breath as the level goes down rapidly when pump comes on. You could simply cut a hole in top, but some crazy smells will seep out if you dump yeast and trub and stuff.

 

[Chrisl77]

The check valve goes on the pump outlet as close to the pump as possible. It keeps from the waste in the line from simply running back in the drain box filling it up and turning the pump back on again. I did this exact same thing with a $70 pump from harbor freight, $10 flexible pump line from home depot, $10 check valve HD, and a few bucks for bucket and p-trap. Almost forgot, you need a studor vent for the bucket, its like $25 at HD. The bucket needs to breath as the level goes down rapidly when pump comes on. You could simply cut a hole in top, but some crazy smells will seep out if you dump yeast and trub and stuff.

Exactly what I did except I haven't put a vent in yet. I hard plumbed mine into my septic with 1 1/2" pvc and just didn't seal around the hole I made in the lid for the pipe. I just run a few cycles of fresh water down the drain when I am finished using the sink, haven't had any bad smells come from the bucket yet. If I start getting smells I will need to get that vent since my nearest vent stack is to far of a run.

 

[abarnett]

I'm seeing a DIY project in my future! Does this look about right?

• Sump Pump ($59.99, Harbor Freight)
• Threaded Check Valve ($6.47, Home Depot)
• 1-1/2in x 20ft sump discharge kit ($9.50, Home Depot)
• Homer Bucket ($2.60, Home Depot)
• Homer Bucket Lid ($1.28, Home Depot)
• Vent ($5.97, Home Depot)

Will that vent work? It's meant for RVs. Or should I go with a vent meant for residential use, like this one for $19.97?

 

[grrickar]

Sorry to revive this thread, but I am doing same and have a question. The drain line runs near overhead for where I want to put the sink, but here is my dilemma - the kitchen sinks and dishwasher empty into that drain line overhead.

If I plumb into that, sure a check valve down low would prevent drainback to the pump, but what keeps the water from filling the line above the check valve with stinky water from the dishwasher? Is there a way to keep that water flowing down the line to the drain and not down the pipe to the check valve?

 

[Chrisl77]

You could use a T like this to direct the flow. If you have access to the lines your best bet would be to increase the size of the drain line from where you cut the T in to the main line. I would atleast make it one size larger. My drain line I tied into was buried behind a wall and I didn't want to cut out a lot of sheetrock to increase the size. I used a couple reducers to make a chock point in the line from my sump pump to reduce the flow rate from my pump. I reduced it down to 1 inch and that made a noticeable difference on how long my pump ran to empty the bucket out. I may reduce it down a little further to 3/4" to slow the flow down a little more.

 

[awarner322]

Does anyone have any pictures of their final product? Of the pump bucket and the entire set up/plumbing work?