"The drain currently has a copper pipe from the relief valve on the water heater."

A water heater T&P valve is not allowed to dump into a drain like that.

You need to be able to see the water so you will know if the valve operated.

Any connection to a sanitary sewer system needs a trap, and the line from the heater (condensater drain for AC?) needs an air gap to the drain.

It cannot be below the 'flood level' like you have it.

This house is 6 years old, outside city limits. I purchased it in January this year. From what I have seen, if any inspections were done during the building, they were very flexible about what was ok. I have not changed the plumbing in that area at all since I bought the house, obviously I need to.

So then I need:

1. a trap on the line
2. air gap for the condensate line
3. air gap for the water softener discharge line
4. an open bucket for the TPR valve to drain to

Would that take care of the drainage issues in that location?

I can see a number of code violations but we do not have sufficient information to determine if that line needs a trap.

Per code the water heater T&P drain line, Water heater drip pan line and the HVAC condensate line may either discharge into the house DWV (drain, waste & vent) system by means of an approved "indirect waste receptor" or they may discharge outside the structure on the ground. If they discharging outside the structure the discharge end of the line must point down and under the IRC the lowest point of the line must be not more than 6" above finished grade. Under the UPC the discharge end must be between 6" and 24" above finished grade. IF the line is discharging on the ground outside the structure the line DOES NOT REQUIRE A TRAP but the discharge end of the line MUST BE in plain site. (It may not be concealed behind shrubbery, plants or other landscaping ornaments).

A water treatment discharge line MUST BE connected to the DWV sanitary drainage system by means of an approved "Indirect waste Receptor" therefore the first step of this project is to POSITIVELY DETERMINE WHERE THAT LINE DISCHARGES.

This is a slab foundation on an aerobic septic system.

How do I, as a homeowner, determine where that drain line connects to, without tearing out all the drywall behind the washer and dryer in the next room?

There has to be a practical solution here.

You could begin by smelling the pipe. There is no trap so if its connected to the DWV system you should easily smell sewer gas.

Next, go outside and look closely along the base of the house for a pipe sticking out about 6" above grade. If you find a pipe sticking out pour some water in that drain and see if it comes out the pipe.

The only pipe sticking up from the ground outside the house is about 30 ft away in the back yard. It is the main clean out leading to the aerobic septic tank.

Let's say there is in fact a proper trap connection on that drain line somewhere in the wall behind the washing machine.

But since we don't know for sure, would there be any problem with adding another trap on the drain line that is visible out by the water heater? So potentially there would be 2 traps on the same drain line. Or does that cause some flow issues?

Please accept my apology for the delay in getting back to you on this. You can rest assured that I have not been ignoring the questions, in fact, quite the contrary is true. Not only have I been repeatedly looking at this problem, I actually copied the photos and pasted them in my photo editing program where I enlarged them about ten times to get a closer look.

Now let me share what I have concluded and see if it corresponds to what you have found.

Fact- The house is only 6 years old so all work should conform to the codes that are currently in force.

Fact-The T&P valve drain line, Water heater drip pan & HVAC condensate drain line must either terminate outside the structure or discharge into an approved indirect waste receptor.

Fact-the T&P drain line may not discharge into the drip pan and the T&P drain line & drip pan drain line MAY NOT be connected to a common drain line.

FACT-The T&P drain line, drip pan drain line & HVAC condensate drain line must run "Full Bore" from the source to the point of discharge.

From my observation of the photos-
The 1-1/2" line extends out from the wall then turns upwards by means of a 1/4 bend with a 3" x 1-1/2" reducer bushing and a short section of 3" pipe that probably was about 4" to 6" high, which would create a waste receptor for the T&P drain & HVAC condensate All of the joint on that section of the line show clear evidence of PVC cleaner/solvent with purple dye.

All of that work was probably originally done during the initial "Stack out phase" of the plumbing. At that time the walls would have still been open and the full length of that run would be open for inspection.

Now here is my first dilemma. Code expressly prohibits downsizing a DWV line in the direction of flow and that would have immediately caught the inspectors eye. Once the inspector realized that the short section of 3" pipe was intended as a receptor for the T&P drain, Pan drain & HVAC condensate line he/she would have classified that 3" as a fixture and would have then checked closely to see where the 1-1/2" waste arm was discharging. If the 1-1/2" line was connected to the DWV system the inspector would have insisted on a trap under the receptor. The lack of a trap suggests that the line is running to the nearest exterior wall and discharging outdoors, which would not require a trap. There is an extremely remote possibility that they installed a trap in the wall as you suggest, however code only permits a maximum of 15" horizontal offset from the fixture drain opening to the trap input; and it appears that the distance from the 1/4bend to the wall is very close to that length. Why would they put the trap in the wall if it could be much easier attached under the receptor on the end of the line where the 1/4 bend is? It is possible that with the trap on the end of the line it would have exceeded the maximum allowable length from the trap weir to the vent opening for an 1-1/2" line (see my post on "Fixture arm defined") so they installed a trap in the wall and attached the horizontal offset to extend the line, but you said that the drain line in the adjoining bathroom is close therefore this simply defies logic.

Now here is the problem at hand. If that line discharges outside the structure as I suspect you cannot attach your water treatment discharge line to that line.

On the other hand, if that line is attached to the DWV system you must first determine if there is a trap in the wall because code requires a trap for all fixtures attached to the DWV system.

You may not just arbitrarily attach a trap as you suggest because code expressly prohibits "Double trapping" (having two traps in series). In fact, years ago all structures were required to have a "House Trap" on the main sewer line where it attaches to the house main drain, but those traps are now outlawed under the no double trapping rule.

Now for the other discrepancies noted:

Examine the connections where the T&P discharge line, HVAC condensate line and the water heater drip pan are attached. Note that there is no evidence of purple dye on the joints. This suggests to me that those lines were installed by someone else after the original waste receptor was installed and the individual who made those connections was not familiar with code requirements.

Note that the HVAC drain line is a 3/4" PVC line and they attached a 3/4" tee to accept the discharge end of the T&P drain line. That is a code violation. Properly to combine both the HVAC drain and the T&P discharge line that MUST BE a 1" Tee.

Under the top tee there is a 3/4"x1" bushing increasing the line to 1" to receive the 1" discharge line from the drip pan. At minimum that tee must be 1-1/4".

It also appears that in the process of connecting the drip pan drain line they had to cut the 3" down flush with the reducer on the 1-1/2" quarter bend therefore you no longer have a receptor. Properly the 1-1/2" line should have been a bit lower, but lacking that, the water heater should have been raised up on bricks or other suitable supports to allow vertical clearance for the drip pan line into the receptor.

You also stated that the only line visible outside the structure is a cleanout, which is 30' from the building.

Code requires that on slab construction the Main Cleanout must be at the junction of the house main drain and house sewer within 3' of the footer wall. I suspect you main cleanout may be slightly covered with dirt and not visible and the cleanout that you found is at a change in direction of the house sewer. Code requires on a house sewer we must have a cleanout at any change of direction which is 45deg or greater and one for every 80 linear 80' of run.

As much as I hate to say it, in my humble opinion the only sure way to resolve the issue here would be to make a small opening in the wall and physically see if the line in question is attached to the DWV system and insure whether or not there is a trap.

BUT,there is a metal perf strap securing the line to the wood blocking behind the 1/4bend. Code expressly prohibits using metal hangers on plastic pipe.

The copper T&P discharge line is discharging into the top of a 3/4" PVC tee from the HVAC condensate line. Under the Tee there is a 3/4"x1" bushing which is enlarging the line to 1" before it enters the 1" tee from the drip pan.

The pictures here may help further. I was able to get the camera behind the water heater and get a shot of the drain by the wall. It is clearly heading into the slab. It is going under the concrete floor of the laundry room. Not through the wall as I had thought.

For the main clean out, I meant about 30ft from the water heater. It is sticking up out of the ground right by the back porch.

The main drain line in question is 2". I did verify that.

I cannot say how thorough the inspections were as this is outside city limits. It may have been a drive by inspection for all I know.

I did open up the T&P valve for a minute and it flows fine down the drain as it currently is. It does not back up.

The water heater is up on concrete blocks off the floor. See photo.

The room adjacent is the laundry room. If I punched a hole in the wall behind the water heater, I would wind up hitting the clothes dryer.

The wall to the left of the water heater is an outside wall. Brick veneer all around the house.

The is nothing outside indicating an exterior drain from that 2" line.

I do not smell any sewer gases coming from the drain. The house is not that old. I would hazard a guess, even the least competent plumber would know enough to put a trap on the line at some point when the house was built.

So I just need to know how to connect 4 things so they drain properly with air gaps into that 2" pipe.

1. The water softener drain (tubing)
2. The T&P drain line
3. The HVAC condensate line 3/4"
4. Drain pan

Can I use a short section of the 2" pipe, say 12", and put it vertical like a standpipe. Then create the air gap drip "funnel" into that 2" standpipe?

Update: Removed water filter, cut off old drain setup. New drain setup not glued in yet. See photos.

The T&P I figure can just discharge into a bucket on the floor. It won't empty the tank if it is working properly. So it would only be a small amount if it did open briefly. And then a quick glance in the bucket will tell you if it activated.

The drain pan I have routing into a T on the 2" drain line. Not sure how to connect that just yet.

Then the far end of the drain where I have a 90 elbow pointing up, the condensate line will come down the wall to that. And the water softener line will go to that as well, with an air gap.

That should take care of things better.

What do you think?
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Finished the water softener installation today. A few minor leaks got fixed. I installed a bypass for the bypass, just in case the one on the softener leaks.

Drain setup was the best I could figure out. HVAC condensate and water softener go into the open end. Drain pan via a union. T&P is dumping into a bucket on the floor if it ever activates.

I set the clack econominder control to 3 people, 17 grains.

I ran it through it's various cycles manually. It seems to be functioning properly. We shall see.
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As it turned out, the original cold water supply from the wall to the water heater needed to be capped off. Then I tapped off the softened water line and fed that to the water heater. The hot side now has softened water.

The outside hose bibs also have soft water. Not a big deal since we have no irrigation and not much landscaping at the moment. I can always just use the bypass on the softener to get hard water out to the hose bibs.

So I started on it Friday and got it finished up this morning. It was a learning experience. Working with pex is easy enough. Crimping the stainless clamps on the 1" main line though takes great strength. I resorted to using a woodworking squeeze type bar clamp to get the crimp tool handle closed on those 1" crimps. It worked.