The last house I lived in had such a setup, known as a sewage ejector system. Sewage ejector systems allow builders to put houses in spots that are below the sewer inlet line. Here's what I learned: Basically, the system consists of a tank, a pump, some floats, and optionally, pump controls. Everything from your house that goes town the drain or toilet goes into the tank, and gets pumped out to the sewer. The tank is usually buried, and can range in size from a small stainless steel 100 gallon tank, to a large concrete 500 gallon pit. The pump can be a plain pump or a grinder pump, but it must have sufficient power to push the sewage slush uphill to the sewer line. Grinder pumps are usually more efficient, being able to push a load farther. The diameter of the discharge pipe, the distance to the sewer and the amount of "uphill head" are all significant. There is usually a check-valve in the discharge line - this is a one way valve that prevents everything in the pipe from sliding back into the tank once the pump shuts off. This saves money and time and pump wear-and-tear, since the pump has already worked to get the sewage into the line. Some systems use a single pump - called a simplex system, while others use 2 pumps in a duplex system. Duplex systems alternate the use of 2 pumps to prolong pump life - some specialists feel that a duplex system will last longer than buying and wearing out 2 pumps consecutively. The tank contains at least 2 floats. The high-level on float triggers the pump to turn on. The pump remains on until the low-level off float is satisfied, at which time the pump stops. Systems usually have an alarm float as well. The alarm float is set higher than the on float and usually rings a buzzer or gives some warning if the level of the tank gets that high - meaning that the pump has failed to turn on. Finally, good systems have some control box to manage on-off, alarm, pump start-up and stop and overheating. Duplex pump controls also manage the alternate starting of the pumps. In my personal situation, our house was a 3200 sqf house, occupied by 3 people, with an 80 gal water heater, at least one large bathtub, 3 toilets, clothes washer, dishwasher - all the usual things that dump water and sewage into the drain. We had a 500 gallon buried tank. My neighbor, on the other hand, had a similar sized house and used a 100 gallon stainless tank - so tank size may be more related to how often you want to be running the pump. Our tank was located 400 ft from the sewer inlet, and about 18ft below it. The sewage ejector pipe was buried under our driveway, and had clean-outs every 50ft, as required by our township. Most ejector experts agree that these systems are self-cleaning, and do not require clean-outs, but the townships seem to think otherwise. Clean-outs can crack and leak, so I suspect that's why some pump plumbers don't like them. When we first moved in, our house had a single, 110v pump with an integrated float and no electronics. When this failed, we replaced it with a 220v single grinder pump with a pump-control box (which was located in the garage). Ejector systems are great when they work - you just forget about them. In large tanks, big pieces of waxy grease start to collect in the tank, and some suggest using a thinning product from time to time. We used to flush "drain care" powder down the toilets when we knew we were going on vacation - that way the stuff would sit in the tank and dissolve the wax. The most common problem for us was that the clamps that were used to hold the floats (made of plastic) would eventually dissolve every 3 or so years, causing the floats to get tangled and stop the pump from working - or worse - leave the pump on even though the tank was empty. When we'd come home and hear the buzzer float on, we'd get that sinking feeling. If you get one of these systems, find a good plumber who specializes in pump systems and treat him nicely! Good pump people are hard to find. If you do need to call your plumber in for float adjustment, they will require you to have an empty tank - and that means paying to have a truck come and pump it out. Our tank had a very heavy lid that required two people to pull it off, and then it had a built-in steel ladder where you could descend into the pit - yuk. Another thing I remember is power outages. Our house lost power often - for most that means no hot water. For sewage ejector owners without a generator, it means your flushes are numbered! Without electricity to turn on the pump, the pit will just fill up, and you really have no way to know how full it is until it leaks out the top. We never had any issue with worrying about what we put into the drains or toilets - and our plumber said that having sink grinders just made it easier for the ejector pump. I hope this helps.

Hi Sparky823, your questions are valid, I will try and explain, as best I can. 1. I can drill a well on my own land, but water law would then expose me to lawsuits from neighbors with shallow wells. They could claim I dried up their wells even if their wells have been dry for decades. They may even be waiting for me to do it so they can cash-in on the lawsuit. There is no way to prove either way, of course, but legal precedent in these matters is on their side. Besides, this is a small community and if I alienate someone, I am gonna have to live with them for a very long time and living in a neighborhood where people hate you is the pitts. Soon someone will buy one of their houses and maybe join us non-well-owners side and the balance of power will have shifted. But this is Santa Barbara, and even a piss-poor shack in the woods goes for $2million nowadays so it may be a while. 2.They have wells because their houses were built before mine long ago and my house was probably a guest house or something. There are about 6 houses with shallow wells and 6 without. These wells are shallow, dry or drying, and contaminated but allow the owners of those properties to not have to pay anything for the sketchy water system, even though everyone knows they use the same water from the spring as the rest of us. Those of us who do not have wells pay $25/house/month + $15/person/month for upkeep of the existing water system, such as it is. And who controls the sketchy water system? You guessed it, the shallow well owners! So they are making bank off it to boot. I cant do anything about it, water wars are the history of California and it wont change. So when water is trucked in, they want 1st dibs on it even though us non-well owners are who is paying for it. Its not fair and I may, as I said, go to war over it; but I have only lived here for 7years and some of these bastards have been here for 70+years. I think I can just wait em out, but every year I get angrier. I may drill a deep water well (6-800 feet) if I could hide the operation in my basement or something, but I doubt that its feasible, and I obviously dont know how to drill wells. So they claim they are living off their wells and dont want to lose their "freedom"; and for now I am trying to "get along". But I will not put up with this nonsense much longer and will appeal to the state health board or some government agency to override them if water still runs out.

I don't doubt that Chris means well, but he/she is obviously not a plumber and once again he/she has totally missed the mark on this one. Obviously the pit in question was originally intended to be a sump pump pit, not a sewage ejector pit. First of all, Code expressly prohibits using any open pit as a sewage ejector. All pumps intended as sewage ejectors must be listed and approved as a "sewage ejector pump" All sewage ejector pumps MUST BE fully contained in a water tight enclosure that is fitted with a water tight removable lid and the enclosure MUST HAVE a separate vent running through the roof of the structure. The vent MAY NOT be connected to any other vents within the structure. All lines entering the sewage ejector vessel MUST BE standard gravity flow lines complete with traps and proper venting. The vents for these lines may not be tied to the sewage ejector vessel vent. All lines entering the sewage ejector vessel must discharge a minimum of 2" above the highest float start position of the pump. The discharge line from a sewage ejector must have an automatic check valve on the vertical portion of the line and above the automatic check valve it MUST BE equipped with a manual gate valve to permit manually closing off the line to service the pump or check valve. The discharge from the pit MUST BE lifted above the house gravity flow DWV line and the pump discharge line must be connected to the house DWV line by means of a Wye with the side opening of the Wye on the top of the pipe. Under the IRC (Interantional Residential Code) the minimum allowable discharge capacity for a sewage ejector pump is 14.2gpm. The discharge load for a sewage ejector must be computed at 1.5DFU's (Drainage Fixture Units) for each Gal/min from the pump. Minimum DFU load is 1.5dfu x 14.2gpm = 21.3DFU's. Under the UPC(Uniform Plumbing Code) the minimum allowable discharge capacity from the pump is 20gpm and the load is to be computed at 2dfu for each Gal/min from the pump thus under the UPC them minimum load is 2dfu x 20gpm = 40DFU Once you have determined the DFU load from the pump that value must be added to the existing load on the gravity flow line receiving the discharge, and the gravity flow line must be sufficient to handle the combined load. If you then consult the code DFU table for drain lines you will find that unless you have a 4" main drain it is highly doubtful whether you can connect a sewage ejection pump legally. AC CONDENSATE DRAIN LINE AC condensate drain lines are required to discharge outdoors or into an approved "Indirect Waste Receptor". Under no circumstances may they be plumbed directly into the DWV system. Condensate drain lines may terminate into a laundry/utility sink, a floor drain or a sump pit however, the lowest portion of the condensate drain line must remain a minimum of 2" above the flood level rim of the receptor.

The term "Grinder Pump" is incorrect and slightly misleading. The proper name is "Sewage Ejector Pump". Sewage ejector pumps are then classified in two categories,"Sewage Ejectors and "Macerating Sewage Ejectors" For the purpose of illustration think of a sewage ejector pump as a submersible sump pump on steroids. Typically they are designed with a trash pump type impeller that will pass solids up to 1-1/2" or 2" in diameter. A macerating sewage ejector is a variation of a sewage ejector that has a built in grinder which functions like a garbage disposal. The macerator grinds the solid waste into smaller particles before passing through the pump. While in inclusion of a macerator does up the price the distinct advantage is that the effluent is then discharged in a thick slurry rather than passing larger suspended solids so the potential for clogged lines downstream of the pump is greatly reduced. In addition to the pump itself, the plumbing codes require that the pump must be housed in a water tight vessel that must have a removable cover to access the pump for service or maintenance and the receiver vessel must have a direct vent to atmosphere. The combination of the sewage ejection pump and its matching receiver vessel is called a "Sewage lift station" For obious reasons a sewage lift station must be matched to the rated load that it will be expected to handle therefore lift stations are rated by DFU's (Drainage Fixture Units) in the same manner as we select the proper size for the drainage piping. In its simplest form there are self contained sewage ejection systems that are built into a plastic housing that can be set on the floor and a toilet installed directly on the housing. This type is often used to install a toilet in a basement where it would be below the level of the house drain lines. Some of these units are also equiped to allow a shower or lavatory drain to discharge into the receiver as well. When selecting a whole house type lift station we must first begin by computing the total DFU load of the structure and selecting the appropriate size of pump to match the demand. When installed on a multi-family structure(two or more living units) the lift station must not only be sized to the demand but in many jurisdictions the lift station must have a primary pump and a backup pump as well as both an audible and flashing light alarm system to indicate if one of the pumps is not working correctly. While hddana found pumps in a price range from $1,100 to $3,000 in fact there are huge sewage ejector pumps used on municipal mains that have up to a 24" diameter output and cost well in excess of $250,000. Due to the complexity of properly sizing a sewage ejection pump system I would not recommend this as a DIY project. In order to properly size the pump you must first begin with a list of all fixtures in the structure that are equipped with a drain. We then use the Fixture table in the code book to determine the DFU value for each fixture. We then add all the DFU values to determine the total DFU load for the structure and select a pump large enough to handle the total combined load. Once we have selected the pump we must then use the pumps discharge rating to determine the minimum size of sewer line. If you are under the International Residential Code the absolute minimum discharge rate of a sewage ejector is 14.2gal/min. and we must allow 1.5DFU's for each Gal/min. when determining the sewer line size. (Min. output is 21.3DFU) The Uniform Plumbing Code sets the minimum size at 20gal/min and 2DFU per GPM which means the minimum output is 40DFU's. This is especially critical when installing the small lift stations in a basement which are intended to serve only one toilet or bathroom group. While the pumps themselves often have a 1-1/2" or 2" discharge line when selecting the point where we connect that line to the house gravity drainage system we must use the aforementioned code minimums. At the actual point of connection we must compute the code minimum for the pump + the existing load on the line we are connecting to. Under the IRC the maximum permissible load on a 3" branch line is 20DFU and under the UPC the maximum on a 3" branch is 35DFU therefore it would be illegal to connect even the smallest sewage ejector to a branch line. The IRC limits the maximum load on a 3" main drain to 36DFU and the UPC limts a 3" main to 35DFU. We must add this pump rating to the existing load on the line so in most instances unless your house has a 4" main drain it would be impossible to legally install basement lift station without increasing the size of the house main drain and house sewer to 4". The use of a garbage disposal on a whole house sewage ejection system will present no problem. Having said that, there is one common practice that will cause no end of problems. Flushing used femine hygene products or used condoms can wreak havoc on any drainage system but they are especially problamtic with sewage ejector pumps. I cannot emphasize enough that those items should be discarded in the trash can and put out with your household solid waste or you can expect to become very well aquanted with your local plumber or drain cleaner.