where to route shower sump

[hd002e]

My boat came with a shower sump tray that drains into the bilge. In order to keep organic stuff out of the bilge and avoid unpleasant smells, I want to install a shower sump pump and intercept the shower gray water before it gets into the bilge and pump it overboard. The pump will collect all the accumulated water from the bottom of the shower pan and route it out of the boat.

I do not want to make any more holes in the boat and I am wondering if I can Tee the shower sump to my sink drain, with a proper check valve so the sink water does not end up down in my shower sump. Take a look at the attached drawing and let me know if it would work, or will the gray water squirt up from my sink drain?

Thank you!

[Lepke]

Do a loop in the sump drain hose higher than the sink so sink water doesn't flow back into the sump. Ditch the check valve. It will only clog with hair, etc. Properly plumbed pumps (sump, bilge, etc.,) don't need a check valve. They restrict the flow.

[DougR]

What you propose can easily be done, but you need to be careful not only that the sink doesn't drain into the shower sump, but more importantly that the ocean doesn't drain into the shower sump when the vessel is heeled over. You can prevent this by running the hose from the sump pump in a high loop before coming back down to the sink drain. Alternatively, don't "T" the sump pump hose into the sink drain line at all, but feed it into the sink from the top of the counter with a nice looking piece of chromed tubing or something like that. This way there is no chance of any back feeding at all.

DougR

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by DougR

What you propose can easily be done, but you need to be careful not only that the sink doesn't drain into the shower sump, but more importantly that the ocean doesn't drain into the shower sump when the vessel is heeled over. You can prevent this by running the hose from the sump pump in a high loop before coming back down to the sink drain. Alternatively, don't "T" the sump pump hose into the sink drain line at all, but feed it into the sink from the top of the counter with a nice looking piece of chromed tubing or something like that. This way there is no chance of any back feeding at all.

DougR

Or you could plumb the sink to the sump as well and then have only one outlet.

[hd002e]

Great stuff guys! Thank you for your help. Lepke, its pretty cool that we collaborated on a drawing online!


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[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by Lepke

Do a loop in the sump drain hose higher than the sink so sink water doesn't flow back into the sump. Ditch the check valve. It will only clog with hair, etc. Properly plumbed pumps (sump, bilge, etc.,) don't need a check valve. They restrict the flow.

^^^This is also my answer. Check valves are great for vent lines, but will clog with, uh, "organics".

[reed1v]

Reminded us of a very large sailing yacht moored nearby at St.Bart. They actually called a plumber to come fix a "stuffed" toilet line that someone had plugged with an "unmentionable". We found out when the plumber showed up at our boat by mistake. Evidently not an uncommon problem among the luxury yachting set.

We used a toilet seat setup on a modified push pit--port side looped out a ways to allow one to "do their thing" into the great sea. Sea gulls were the only problem with the setup.

[Rustic Charm]

You could also replace the 'check valve' with a three way 'T' valve and then just use either the sink or the shower sump at different times.

I use a Whomper pump because it sucks all of the water from the shower sump which a bilge pump won't do. The Whomper then pumps it well above the water line into my sewage holding tank. The sewage is then gravity fed down a similar set up to yours through the single seacock.

[DumnMad]

Make your enclosed sump pump collection box as big as you can because the backflow from the loop will refill it if too small. I threw our small collection box out for that reason and sent it all to the bilge. When convenient will put in a new large collection box.

Also a note of caution, the loop siphon-break can stick shut when it dries out so if your shower tray is below the waterline you could have seawater siphoned back into the boat. Close the seacock when leaving the boat for a while.
I found this out when the float switch failed and fortunately after only taking on half a tonne of seawater :-)

[gonesail]

from experience there is a good chance you could have water backing up into your sink with your design .. a 3 way valve would prevent that. you could also have a dedicated sump pump outlet above waterline and not worry about siphon problems.

[hd002e]

Rustic Charm, what is a Whomper pump?


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[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by hd002e

Rustic Charm, what is a Whomper pump?


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'Whomper' that's funny. Must have been my iPad correction. Though it's fitting as they do go 'whomp' 'whomp' 'whomp'

It was meant to be 'gulper' pump. These are pumps that suck up, including air. So you don't have the problem you have with common bilge pumps with the water falling back into the bilge when you turn the pump off.

My 'gulper' is in a cupboard above the head sink, so at about 5 foot mark from the floor. And yet it sucks up all waste water from the floor drain of the shower. They are great. Fully serviceable too. Will take hair and soap away.

[hd002e]

Now it makes sense yes, thats what I purchased too, whale 200. Thank you!


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[hd002e]

Now it makes sense yes, thats what I purchased too, whale gulper 220. Thank you!


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