Seperate dishwasher drain

[Michael Thomas]

Is there an acceptable method of separately plumbing the drain of a residential dishwasher so that the entire arrangement is below counter-top level, for example to avoid the requirement for an air-gap at the counter-top?

[Scott Patterson]

Is there an acceptable method of separately plumbing the drain of a residential dishwasher so that the entire arrangement is below counter-top level, for example to avoid the requirement for an air-gap at the counter-top?

I guess it would all depend on the requirements for your area. In my area it is acceptable to loop the DW discharge line up under the sink "high loop" and then connect to the port on the disposal or sink drain line.

I have never seen a DW that did not drain into a sink line or disposal.

[Aaron Miller]

Scott's idea works unless, of course, the manufacturer requires the air gap.

Aaron

[Nick Ostrowski]

I have never seen a DW that did not drain into a sink line or disposal.

Then you should come to my house Scott. Our DW drains directly into the kitchen sink branch drain line in the basement area below. It's been that way since we've lived here (11+ years) and I've never felt inclined to change it, even though the drain line hook-up is admittedly incorrect.

[Jim Robinson]

On some of the older houses, I sometimes see a standpipe used for the dishwasher. It's similar to what you would see for a washing machine. Of course, the only time you can see it is when the dishwasher is removed, or if you can somehow see behind it. I didn't have any problem with it.

Mine drains underneath and ties into the drain line in the crawl space. Like Nick, I've lacked motivation to change it, but someday I just might.

[Nick Ostrowski]

I did change the water supply line to the DW from cold to the hot supply (yes, the water supply line to our DW was the cold line). We had some real Einsteins that lived here before us.