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pump for basement shower ?

Pump for Basement Shower

A basement shower drains into a trapped floor drain. The user wants to eliminate the pipe across the floor and is considering a floor-mounted tank-type pump to pump the shower drain up to the soil stack, which is about 3 ft above the floor and 8 ft from the drain. The drain is right on the floor, so the tank would need the inlet to be at floor level.

The pump tank either has to be lower than the shower or the shower has to be raised higher than a floor-mounted tank. If something the size of a 5-gallon bucket can be buried, a Zoeller laundry pump would probably work fine, with a vent connected to it.

The proper way is to break up the floor, put a sanitary crock in, and run a drain from the shower into the new crock, then pump it to the drain stack.

Since there are no solid waste going down this drain, a laundry pump would be more than sufficient. A tank can be semi-recessed and the discharge piped to the sewer. A vent is still needed. A trap under the shower is enough. A check valve above the pump is a must. An AAV (cheater vent) will not allow the air out of the tank as the shower is trying to drain. There is not any sewer gas that will come from the shower drain. The sewer gas from the sewer will not come back into the house because you have a check valve keeping the discharge full of water.

There is no "water pressure to raise the water 2"". There is also no pump with a float switch which would turn on before the shower pan filled with water. A centrifugal pump, such as one with garden hose connections operated by a wall switch, (outside the shower), running while using the shower would be a "Mickey Mouse" way of doing it.

A "cheater vent" will NOT work with a sealed pump, and the discharge does not need a trap. If you can live with the possibility of odors from the pump, you can connect the shower drain directly to the "pit" without a trap, and then you would not need a vent.

It makes no difference how "high" the crock is, as long as the bottom, and the pump mechanism is below the shower floor.

The check valve is to prevent the discharge water from draining back into the pit. The water in the pit around the pump is what will keep sewer gases out, even without a check valve.

Most pumps need at least 11" from their bottom to the water level when they turn on, but the shorter the pump, the lower the water level can be. A sledge hammer can be used to break the concrete. Hit in the center several times until it caves in, then start working around the edges to make the hole larger. Once it is big enough to get a shovel, start digging under the edges and it will break easier and cleaner.

Drill about a 5/8 hole in the cement floor. if water comes bubbling up thru, you have a problem.

The shower drain is laying on the floor but the floor drain in the shower is about 7" higher than the floor. The user asks if there is a floor mounted model laundry pump and pit that this is enough or if he needs to break open the floor. Also, he asks if he just has the shower draining into the pit with no trap if he does not need a vent, and if he can just pump it to his soil pipe. He also asks if the check valve goes into the vertical run above the pump, and if the idea of this is so the water closes off the valve and you get no sewer gas smell. Also if he does need to break the floor open, he asks if it can be done with a hammer and he does not need a saw.