Dry Well Question for Garage Floor Drain

[TonyMazz]

So I want to connect up my floor drain to a make shift drywell composed of a 55 gallon drum.

From a safety stand point, suppose you spill combustibles i.e. gas, solvents and they go down into the sump. Isn't it creating a combustion chamber with explosive capabilities if a spark should happen in the garage ?

Fumes rising from from the dry well could be ignited right ?

Also with a heavy clay soil and low permiability would I be better to drain to daily light with a long drain pipe

Your ideas would be most appreciated !!!

Thanks

Tony

 

[mleichtle]

Do you have a trap seperating the well from the garage? I thought a drywell had a bunch of holes to gradually drain eveything into the soil.

 

[TonyMazz]

Do you have a trap seperating the well from the garage? I thought a drywell had a bunch of holes to gradually drain eveything into the soil.

No it's just a 45-degree bend and drain to foundation wall right now. I want to put in a drywell system. Actually the tank portion would have 1" holes drilled in the bottom half of a 55 gallon drum ...

 

[HoosierBuddy]

I've seen commercial floor drains built to code. What they look like is a large square hole in the garage floor with a grate over the top of it. A stand pipe comes up in the middle of the hole, flips around forming a trap and then comes straight up to within a few inches of the grate. This forms a large indoor pool to try to trap any fluid contamination before it can get into the sewer system or groundwater.

It also doesn't work worth a damn, as they fill up with stagnet water and stink to high-heaven.

Obviously the most important thing is to keep polutants, solvents, contaminants, etc. away from your floor drain. It's not like a dry well is a water treatment facility. If you put anything other than water down that drain, you'll be polluting your own property and likely the water table for the surrounding area.

Now that you've decided to be careful and only allow water (and maybe a little soap) down the drain, you need to ask yourself why you need a 55 gallon drysump. What I did was run 4" DVW out to a 9" grated box in my yard (about a 9" cube), drilled holes in the box. Ran 10' feet of perferated 4" tile out of the box into a trench, and backfilled the whole set up in a bunch of 11B's. People around here would call that a "French Drain". People in France likely call it something else.

The way it works, the grate serves as an overflow to let any excess flow into the yard, rather than back up into the garage. I hooked one of my downspouts into the same line.

Just an idea. Be aware that you may have specific codes in your area that won't allow what I've described.

Phil

 

[DynoDave]

Possibly explosive? Yes. I would think so.

A co-worker has one. While unloading groceries, they dropped a gallon of milk. It broke open, and ran down the drain into the dry well. As you can guess, within days, it stunk something terrible. They tried to kill the smell with bleach, cleaners, etc, but he said it was little help, and they just had to wait for it to go away.

 

[OI812]

As a licensed plumber in Wisconsin, I can tell you it is completely against code. I wouldn't recommend it, because it could become a possible combustion chamber. More importantly, depending on how the drywell is constructed, you could end up with the explosion back in your garage. Fumes along with gases will come back out the floor drain, thus the potential for combustion. Even putting a trap on the drain will not prevent this, but will help to minimize the effect. However if you put in a trap, the drain may not work without a vent. Depending on where you live, if you have high ground water and sandy soil, you might have the DNR knocking on your door. Just trying to help.

 

[SCOOTER]

IMHO....all this floor drain / drywell talk is just not worth the hassles....I am omitting the idea of a floor drain inside my shop...and getting a new skweegie (sp)









and this is from a guy who "has to" install an oversized "drywell"...."drainage pit" thing for my downspouts already

 

[TonyMazz]

As a licensed plumber in Wisconsin, I can tell you it is completely against code. I wouldn't recommend it, because it could become a possible combustion chamber. More importantly, depending on how the drywell is constructed, you could end up with the explosion back in your garage. Fumes along with gases will come back out the floor drain, thus the potential for combustion. Even putting a trap on the drain will not prevent this, but will help to minimize the effect. However if you put in a trap, the drain may not work without a vent. Depending on where you live, if you have high ground water and sandy soil, you might have the DNR knocking on your door. Just trying to help.

Thanks for responding.. the house was built in rural western wisconsin, with a floor drain to foundation edge...was trying to facilitate a way keep drain from simply collecting water in winter and filling up....when I wash my cars to get the salt off....

I live on 16 acres and am open to suggestions.....what could/should I hook the floor drain to then ? Just leave it terminated and buried in the dirt and forget it ?

It passed building inspector so I figured it's ok...

 

[rogabbott]

what could/should I hook the floor drain to then ? Just leave it terminated and buried in the dirt and forget it ?QUOTE]

Why not connect it to a small septic tank and have it pumped out when needed?

 

[OI812]

Well Tony, there is right, wrong, and what will work. "When I get a chance, I will try and send you the pages to the State Codes.

Ok the right thing to do, is to put in a garage catch basin, and all floor drains attach to this. This then goes out to your drain field or sewer. The catch basin intercepts all oils, gases, sediment. It allow the water to flow out, but not much else. These do have to be cleaned from time to time. Your case not practical since your garage floor is already poured. Next right thing is to put in a floor drain that is designed for a garage, which has a sediment, bucket on it. Again not practical.

Ok the drywell...... Not a bad idea, but do to the fact that you have clay it won't drain very well. Ok you drill holes in the bottom of a 55 gallon drum to let the water out. How long before those holes get plugged with sediment and it doesn't drain? How will you clean that out. What about the freezing issue? I'm assuming you are talking about burring the tank, and have a closed lid. This is my concern with the gas or other flammables getting into it. Your only source of venting is back through your garage.

What will work? Let it drain to the surface. Put a screen over the end of the pipe so animals don't go up it. I would put a rock wash area at the end of the pipe and extend it out five or so feet. This will help prevent erosion and keep the area somewhat clean. Now I'm not sure on this, but I believe that a one or two family dwelling unit in Wisconsin can drain a garage to grade "as long as it doesn't create a nuisance."

I have done some shops for a couple of really really good friends. What I did was a garage catch basin with a local vent back to the outside atmosphere. The vent takes care of any heavy gases that accumulate at the basin. We then attached 4 to 5 floor drains to the catch basin. The basin then went out side and did drain to grade. All the sand, dirt, oil, etc is caught by the catch basin. Clear water exits the basin and goes outside. It works good, and they haven't had any problems.

Oh by the way I wouldn't add a garage drain to any septic system, legal or not. These systems aren't designed for that type of drainage, and most aren't sized for that drainage. Plus I wouldn't want oil or gas getting into a septic tank.

I hope this helps. I will still try and get you the pictures out of the code.

 

[Willy Victor]

I have a floor drain in my pole barn, but nothing has ever been drained into it, with the exception of maybe a little water. It sits right in the middle of the 30x36 floor and drains to the back wall and ends just outside the wall. As I say nothing is ever put down it. When I had the building put up the contractor asked if I wanted a drain, got to thinking and said sure put one in. I suppose if I parked my truck in it in the winter it would come in handy as the floor is sloped to the drain

Willy

 

[TonyMazz]

Well after much thought I have decided not to install a drywell....thinking about my use and the effort involved I decided not to install a dry well.

When the garage was built I had an 1 1/2-inch drain put in with no trap...The floor slopes to the drain...so I decided to install a 50 ft run extending the drain to day-light...since when anything get's spilled I wash the floor and squeegy to driveway......so why not have it drain to day-light...

some of the spill would evaporate, some would seep into ground...so what's the difference if it goes through a tube to day-light or I simply wash it there...

Since I have a clay soil, it just holds water...drywell would be a waste of time.....

I am not dumping anything down there except road salt in the winter, water in the summer ....no gas, no oil...though its possible that some will go down there...but again it's no different than over filling the lawnmower during a fill up or something.....no big deal....

Talked to the plummer that installed all my plumbing here in wisconsin and he said drain it to day-light...don't connect to septic since there is not trap on drain...all will be fine....

So that's what I have done...at the end I have a perferated end cap to keep the critters out....gutter splash pan and a gravel to disperse the water and I am done.

BTW took me 6 hours to install by hand digging in the hardest clay I have ever seen...it was tough...but I am done...