Garage floor drain

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Onion69420

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I'm a legal medical grower, my grow is in my garage. I run an RO system that makes a lot of waste, in the summer I just pump it outdoors, but in the winter sometimes the line freezes. I also have drain lines from the dehumidifier and the plant runoff. All n all probably draining 50-100 gallons per day.
I recently realized I have a floor drain in the garage. I stuck a fishing pole down there and it goes maybe 4 feet and stops. I angled the pole to see of I could feel for an opening where the drain would connect with a 90 degree pipe for a sewer but couldnt feel anything.
Is it possible this is just a hole in the ground? I ran the hose down it for 10 minutes and it didnt seem to fill up.
I wanna run all my runoff through it but I'm afraid if it's not connected to a sewer that it would eventually undermine the garage floor.20200922_155824.jpg
 
If it has a P-Trap so you won't be able to run a fishing pole through that.
No idea as to where it goes.
 
Unless it runs to daylight, you're going to be pretty limited in what you can put down that drain. It is designed to handle draining a wet car, so maybe a gallon or two if a two car garage with two wet cars coming in from a rain storm.

They are not usually hooked into the sewer and as such, wouldn't need a trap. Most sewage companies/authorities don't want rain water in their systems. They get a fair amount regardless because man-holes are not sealed so some water running across the top of a street manhole is going into the sewers.
 
My guess would be that it runs to a "French drain", a pit full of gravel to drain into the ground. Not designed for constant draining.
But, maybe there are some home builders/designers that would have a more knowledgeable input.
 
A garage floor drain by code should be a pit measuring 18 x 24 inches with a 3 inch drain connection, this is not a floor drain . it is a hole through the garage floor that just goes into the area under the floor. You could stick a garden hose in it a run the water for a couple of hours to see what happens. my guess it will block up or water will start to come out somewhere ?
 
A garage floor drain by code should be a pit measuring 18 x 24 inches with a 3 inch drain connection, this is not a floor drain . it is a hole through the garage floor that just goes into the area under the floor. You could stick a garden hose in it a run the water for a couple of hours to see what happens. my guess it will block up or water will start to come out somewhere ?

Wouldn't that would be a floor drain in a car repair garage, not a residential garage? Back in the day I had to clean the one out at the service station I worked at while in high school. Nasty, but not as bad as a restaurant grease trap.
 
I ran the hose for 30 minutes today and it didnt back up at all, kept draining.
If this were a french drain and I used it to dump 300 gallons a week down, would it undermine the floor?
 
Side note here... as a word of caution depending on the age of your house and the drain you might not want to use it. I have a garage at one of my houses that has a drain in it that I never understood until I just happened upon it in conversation with my grandpa. Turns out for a short period of time people with enough money to own Cars had pit's installed directly under their garages that they would drain OIL and everything else into... I know shocking right... he said depending on who installed it it may or may not lead to a sewer. YIKES... the pit usually holds a certain amount before the over flow goes into the sewer or off to another direct drain gravel pit... again totally dependent on who installed it. My house in question is about 100 years old, but the garage is a little newer. Based on the shape and location of the drain I'm pretty sure it was used for exactly this.

All that is to say you probably shouldn't dump 300 gallons a week down a drain of unknown origin... Might be worth getting it camera inspected first or just cutting to the case and installing one to day light.
 
That's a good point, my house was made in 45 but the garage was an addition in the 70s I think.
In the basement i have some weird pits under the floor, no idea what they are. They are covered by cement covers that are flush with the floor. I stuck a broom down there and it went all the way down. They are filled with some kind of murky gray ooze stuff.
I asked a plumber and he said not to have it checked cuz he would be required to report anything like that to the city who would make me bring it to code
 
That's a good point, my house was made in 45 but the garage was an addition in the 70s I think.
In the basement i have some weird pits under the floor, no idea what they are. They are covered by cement covers that are flush with the floor. I stuck a broom down there and it went all the way down. They are filled with some kind of murky gray ooze stuff.
I asked a plumber and he said not to have it checked cuz he would be required to report anything like that to the city who would make me bring it to code
Oh yeah... same conversation with my Grandpa... I certain areas they used to heat houses with oil and coal. He said they had pits (concrete boxes) in unfinished basements were they would have oil or coal delivered through a shoot in the side of the house... Then when they stopped using oil/coal they just cemented over them.... it sounds ALOT like your in one of those areas.... I really really wouldn't recommend sending that much water into who knows where... it might even end up in your neighbor's basement in which case your going to get a very nasty call from their insurance.

Another note. Also depending on your area you might qualify to install a leach field. Usually used for sewage, but I would think this would be a better alternative to dumping in an unknown line that might lead to later Environmental fines... You don't want to mess with the environment. Cities, county, etc take that stuff seriously and sometimes if you get sited after the fact they force you to use contractors that are certified. I'm not saying if it's good or bad, but what I can say is it's astronomically more expensive than doing it the right way yourself first.

LOL - Same Grandpa different story. He owned a Feed Lot. The county decided to change some of their water drainage rules one year and they contacted him saying he had to upgrade his drainage or pay a fine AND have it installed by a certified contractor. He had the contractor come out and give him a bid... $150,000. So my grandpa "lawyered" up and they settled with the county to let him install the system himself as long as it got inspected. The lawyer said that the only thing that saved him was that he hadn't been fined or sited for any "wrong doing" previously or related. I actually got to be apart of this story. Turns out the certified contractor quoted a very complicated drainage system complete with 6" under ground drain lines, weeping tile "zones", and a whole lot more. What the actual change in the county rules only required run off to be collected and stored for "natural" reclamation. So what this meant was he had to dig some deep ditch's and a huge retention pond for run off. This was the first year I was allowed to drive the big CAT loader... and it took almost 2 full days of digging to get it deep enough to meet the county requirements ( it had to calculate out to hold some set amount of water.) So in the end I think it took me and my dad about a week to install. I was making minimum wage ($5 at the time) and my dad was already salary for my grandpa. It was a good time. I often think I would have enjoyed being a heavy equipment operator for that reason.
 
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Just like any agricultural operation wastewater comes with lots of restrictions and regulations. What does your industry say about proper wastewater management? I’m fairly sure they don’t want you dumping it on the surface or down a drain that has an unknown destination.



I know if dairy farmers tried that they would be out of business quickly.

How often are you inspected and what does the inspector have to say about it?

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1...hUKEwj-xoXriIXsAhWNHM0KHeRhCfcQ4dUDCA0&uact=5
 
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Wouldn't that would be a floor drain in a car repair garage, not a residential garage? Back in the day I had to clean the one out at the service station I worked at while in high school. Nasty, but not as bad as a restaurant grease trap.
You would not use a floor drain in a garageit would block with dirt way too fast, if you used a garage pit it would act as a solid separator with the dirt resting at the bottom of the pit and the water running off.
 

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