Recently when doing laundry the sealed hole in my ground was slightly leaking. I called the plumber who installed the system and he said my ejector pump probably needed to be replaced. He told me the only thing hooked up to that was the utility sink, where the washer was draining into, and the basement bathroom we never use. I didnt want to pay for a new pump. I asked if I could re-route to my sub, and he said no, because it shouldnt be going out into my yard. Aside from maybe breaking some code, is there a reason I shouldnt let the grey water go thru the sub? I have it rigged that way now and it seems to be working fine. I have a lint trap to keep the lint from damaging my pump, I actually have two bc my laundry is extra linty. The plumber told me i could just deal with the small leak, since it was only going in to a floor drain, but that my ejector pump would eventually REALLY break and then I will have a mess on my hands. Clearly I dont want to spend money, but I dont want to screw my self over in the long run. I already know i will not be doing wash on rainy days so the pump doesnt get over worked, but is the soap somehow harmful to the pump or something else i should be worried about? any help or suggestions would be great, cheap or free ones are even better

i have to laugh at some of the advice local plumbers give their customers.
to the best of my knowledge, pumps either work or they don't.
how does the plumber know what is happening inside the tank if he did not remove the cover and look?
what does it mean that the pump will "really" break soon?
question.. when you run water into the tank, can you hear the pump cycle on ?

he didnt come and look bc i didnt want to pay $120 for him to look at it. as far as i know the pump was working it just leaked some. he made it sound like if i continued to use it, eventually i would have a HUGE mess on my hands. it only did it when my washer ran thru the sink, when I ran water in the same sink nothing happened, so i think it was only doing it with large amounts of water. So even tho the plumber said it was 'illegal' the way i see it, is continue to run ejector pump til it breaks and i have sewage, or stop using it all together and route the washer in to the pump. i just dont want to break the sub either bc i cant imagine thats any cheaper to fix. eventually i would get the ejector pump fixed I would just rather not do it at the moment.
also he never said it was a bad idea bc the sub pump couldnt take it, he simply said it was 'illegal' but its not waste, its just soapy water, and it goes into my front yard, i see no soap in the yard, and its my yard so the worst that would happen is it will kill my grass and i dont care about that.



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He told me the only thing hooked up to that was the utility sink, where the washer was draining into, and the basement bathroom we never use.

An elector pump handles sanitary sewage, i.e. human waste.

A sump pump handles plain water.

Your bathroom may NOT be dumped into your yard as grey water ! IT IS NOT GREY WATER !

The toilet drain is sanitary sewage even if you, personally, 'never' use it !

Is your 'plumber' licensed to do plumbing ? If so, IMO, he/she should NOT be.

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

if you want the washer to drain out to the yard, drill a hole in the house and stick the hose thru it. the washer will pump 7-8 feet high with no problem.

Packy, does that also hold true for todays' HE washing machines?

that's a good question.. i don't know???

thanks packy i will try it.

bern- im not trying to dump waste to my yard. only washer water. directly from the washer, not ivolving ejector pump at all, and my plumber told me NOT to do it, but im not spending money if i dont need to. just need somewhere for my washer to dump to.