It isnÂt clear why you have a laundry in the basement and today you have the question of how to discharge water. But, it does appear that you have described a private sewage system (as opposed to a municipal sewer.) As such, your laundry water drains below a septic tank. So yes it needs to be pumped out.

There are two common methods. One is to let the wash water out into a sink or laundry tray, where it will fill the tub and its pressure will operate a pump switch. The pump flows to the drain under pressure.

Similarly, basements of this type can have a pit in the floor which can receive all waste water above that by gravity. The pit is sealed but contains an Âejector pump. And also, similar is an above the floor tank, which acts as a pit would.

Pinoke

To make it clearer, this is the only place I can put my washer/dryer....in the basement. I do have municipal sewer and not a septic tank. The main drain pipe is located in the floor joists or just below which is obviosly above the basement, it, the drain, goes across the basement into a crawlspace and out to the municipal sewer. The drain is exactly 62inches overhead from the washer discharge.

IÂm going to give you two answers, because IÂm a results-oriented kind of guy and I donÂt have any outstanding warrants for my arrest. The best way to solve your problem is not legal. You should do what I suggested. But another way to get there is to let your washer pump directly  thru a check valve  into the drain line.

ItÂs absolutely illegal and unsupported by any manufacturer. However it works like a charm. ItÂs my favorite way to get from A to B. DonÂt worry about data. I have already tested it; and it works for me.

A washer is a high output appliance. As such, its water flow demands a lot from the venting system. Putting a washer in-line as I recommend could suck water from your traps and poison the air you breath. (What do you care? YouÂre fÂdead. Or wisht you were.)

Either way, youÂre OK. Because when they bury you, people only care about whether you look good and are well-dressed, and you will be under this system. Besides, with a little luck, you will end up in the Nether World, where your indiscretions will look, good compared to what some people do. (Did.)

So there you have it, Tigger. The old expression, "Stuff " flows downhill only applies if there is no pump involved. But you are one of the lucky ones. People in China have nothing to eat.

Pinoke

It comes down to how powerful the washing machine pump is...

Now, this check valve has to have a reasonable bore, what's a washing machine outlet - 3/4" at least?

The big risk here - ok there's two - one is, as Pinoke says, you might end up with sewer gas being sucked into the place, which, in a well-sealed house (as most are) could be lethal, maybe even explosive.

The other risk, more likely, is a failure or blockage of the check valve which could result in raw sewage being siphoned back into your basement. If you chose this route, I wonder if your insurance would pay out if something went wrong.

Don't get me wrong, provided the lift's not too great (and you'd definitely need a trap etc some distance ABOVE the sewer line to reduce the risks, this ought to work, however, and I'm not sure about whether all ejector pit things have to be buried - I've seen one of these ejector units and they don't look that complicated or expensive, and the BIG advantage is, you can have a laundry sink down there too, which will drain into one of these gizmos - and will pump itself out up into the sewer when it fills - and these things are designed for the job and ought to do it more efficiently and safely - and when you sell the house, you won't have to rectify anything, as if you take the cheap route, you might be forced to disclose it, or an adept building inspector may spot it and put you in an unfavourable bargaining position.