I have purchased a water softener that I'm going to be installing in my basement. The problem is there is no drain line in the basement nor a utility/laundry sink, since our laundry room is on the 2nd floor of our house. Tapping into the water line for the softener isn't an issue, but how to go about plumbing drainage for the softener discharge. While there is a sump hole next to the water heater, I've read that I don't want to have the discharge drain into it. The sewer line is not a vertical stack, but rather runs horizontally, mounted near the top of the foundation. The basement is finished, and the location of the water softener will be in the utility area near the water heater. I've attached pics and a diagram for reference. Some of the pics are during the finish construction. Hopefully, someone can provide me with some ideas. Thanks.



This is what the basement looked like before the walls were built



The outline shows the sewer pipe redirection



Here is the main water inline and shutoff & clean out after the walls were built



This is how the clean out looks now. (Not sure why it is turned. If you open in new window, it is correct).



Sewer pipe redirection during construction



This picture shows the vent line location during construction



Vent line today



Start of sewer line



Sewer line continuation running to the right



This is a rough diagram of everything I've pointed out in the pictures. The softener will go in the space next to the water heater to the right of the water heater. With no drainage in the basement, how do I properly plumb the drainage/venting for the softener discharge to the sewer line? Thanks.

First off where are you located the they don't require PVC primer to be used on the waste fittings? Are you on well or septic. What are your water issues that you need a softener and what media will you be using? Water softeners do not typically require gravity drainage so pumping to a certain extent should be OK.

I have to assume then that there is a floor drain by the water heater to accommodate the potential discharge of the temperature and pressure relief valve that drains to the sump pump pit then? If the sump pump gets used regularly due to ground water, then the effects of any salt remaining in the water will be minimal on the pump's hardware anyway; if it doesn't get used regularly, a little periodic use might do it some good. Unless the discharge is going directly to the base of someone's prized rose bushes, I wouldn't worry about discharging the water to a sump pit.

"ravi102769 (VA)
First off where are you located the they don't require PVC primer to be used on the waste fittings? Are you on well or septic. What are your water issues that you need a softener and what media will you be using? Water softeners do not typically require gravity drainage so pumping to a certain extent should be OK."

Hi there,

I was not present when the home was built, so I cannot speak to your first question, except to say that whenever I have done any alterations or additional projects requiring plumbing I personally have used PVC primer on all plastic fittings, waste or otherwise, when called for. I would additionally point out that not all PVC primer has color added to it, there is colorless primer. We are on our local municipal water, so we have neither well nor septic. However, the water is hard and causes issues with our appliances. We've only been in our home for 11 years and we've already replaced our dishwasher and we've just replaced our washing machine for the second time. This is the area I grew up in, and my childhood home had a water softener, so it's not unheard of in this area of South Central PA to have them.

"KCRoto (MO)
I have to assume then that there is a floor drain by the water heater to accommodate the potential discharge of the temperature and pressure relief valve that drains to the sump pump pit then? If the sump pump gets used regularly due to ground water, then the effects of any salt remaining in the water will be minimal on the pump's hardware anyway; if it doesn't get used regularly, a little periodic use might do it some good. Unless the discharge is going directly to the base of someone's prized rose bushes, I wouldn't worry about discharging the water to a sump pit."

Hi KC,

No, there is no floor drain by the water heater. Here is how it is set up. The basement floor slab is a "floating floor", meaning there's about a 1 1/2" gap around the perimeter of the floor. (Always been annoyed by that!). Since they have the water heater next to the sump pit, they plumbed the pressure relief valve to drain into that gap. The idea being that if the pressure relief valve releases it will dump the water into the gap which in turn should, in theory, flow into the sump pit. I am actually getting ready to replace the water heater as well, (that's a whole other issue), so I plan to do things a bit differently with the new one.

As for the sump pit, here is the situation with that. With regular rainfall, the sump pumps are usually not in use. It is only during heavy rains that the pumps are used. Notice I'm using the plural "pumps". I have 3 pumps in my pit. The reason is two-fold. During extremely heavy rains, our sump pump will run continuously. In the first place, the developers/construction folks did not build the water retention pond correctly. But the second and more important reason deals with the fact that in my 3-home subdivision there is a 36" main that runs between two of our properties to carry ground water away. However, that 36" main connects up to a 12" main on other side of the street from us. Thanks to that fact, when we get extremely heavy rains, the retention pond "backs up" which has the effect of causing the water to back up into our homes. All 3 of us in our subdivision have multiple pumps in our sump pits, and we even tried to sue the township to fix the 12" main, but that didn't work out too well. Now, most of the time, we are fine, as I previously stated, with normal rainfall the pumps don't usually run. It is only during extremely heavy rain. In fact, I think it's been at least a year (maybe longer) since they last ran with any frequency. As for the sump discharge, it goes to the retention pond. My discharge actually comes out at the top of the hill, and I am responsible for the lawn maintenance of that particular area. However the retention pond itself is part of the property of our neighbor directly to the northeast of us. Having said all of that, again given my research, the recommendation is that water softener discharge be directed into the waste removal system rather than the sump crock. Since I will be using a water softener for the first time, I am unfamiliar with how often such discharge occurs. However, if doing so will cause minimal issues, I'm not opposed to it, but given the situation we have with our ground water situation, despite it's infrequency, I can't afford for my sumps not to work. Thanks for your help.



Edited 1 times.

So does anyone have any other suggestions/thoughts on this?

? into the outlet pipe of the sump pump so it will dump into the pond ?

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

I have the similar problem. My sump pump is seldom used since all my rain water gutters are directed to an underground pit about 6~10 feet below ground. Also the regen water is about 50~100 gallons for every days. It will flood the basement when the sump pump broke on the day when I am away.

I am thinking to install the salt base water soften in my garage. The other side of the garage is washer room. Run a pair of approx. 30 feet pex from basement to the garage and back to the basement after the water is treated. Then drain the regen water to the washer discharge pipe. Does anyone did this before and any advices? Thanks.

Update: Here is the better solution of my problem. The top of 4" sewage main (run horizontal around the foundation wall) is 55" above the slab. An air gap fitting will be built 42" above the 4" sewage main with a Y and P trap etc.. Will the water softener able to discharge the water approx. 100" above the slab? Do I need to build a platform to raise the water softener? Please comment.