Sump Pump

[Rob Kinney]

Is it allowable to have a sump pump branched into your main sewer line that empty's into a 1,000 gallon tank and then into a drain field? This is in Southern Lancaster County, PA.

The sump pump is bone dry appears to have possibly never used and the drain field and tank are in good working order.

thanks

[Aaron Miller]

Try here:

Pennsylvania Code (http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/025/chapter73/chap73toc.html)

[H.G. Watson, Sr.]

GENERAL SITE LOCATION AND ABSORPTION AREA REQUIREMENTS

§ 73.11. General.

(e) Discharge from roof gutters, foundation drainage, floor drains not from sewage generating connections and surface runoff may not be discharged to a treatment tank; nor may the discharges be permitted to flow over an absorption area or spray fields.

[Nick Ostrowski]

Even if it were to be allowable, it would not be a good idea to do so. The additional water sent into the system could saturate the drainfield and start pushing septic liquids to the ground surface.

[Mike Kleisch]

You need to check with your local authority, but it doesn’t look good. Based on a “real quick” glance it looked like ’97 was the last time they made changes and this might be an older code reference, so it might have changed in newer editions. You are probably out of luck anyway, as they probably didn’t account for it when they designed the system.