Abstract:
A method for discharging sanitary waste solids and waste water to separate destinations includes passing waste water from drain lines of sinks, tubs, showers and laundry areas to a sump pit, and then percolating the waste water into the ground. The solid output of commodes and kitchen sinks continues to be discharged to a sanitary sewer system.

Description:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    Conventional sewer systems in residential communities have a sanitary sewer line, which collects the waste from each of the residences in the community. In many cases the storm water, the waste water from the drainage from sinks, tubs, showers and laundry areas, and sanitary waste from the water closets and kitchen sink are all discharged to the sanitary sewer system. This has created a problem by overloading the sanitary sewer system as communities build-up. This overloaded condition in many cases causes a back-up into residences, ruining furniture, walls and carpets and family treasures.  
           [0002]    The broad purpose of the present invention is to reduce the quantity of liquids discharged to the sanitary sewer system by diverting the discharge of waste water from sinks, tubs, showers, and laundry areas. Such water does not carry solids, as do commodes and kitchen sinks. This waste water is directed to the same sump pit as the storm water, and then leached into the ground.  
           [0003]    A conventional sump pit has a bottom, and a pump for discharging water from the sump pit to an outside area, which may be the ground or a storm drain. Preferably, the inventive method contemplates a bottomless sump. The sump pit casing is extended down to, for example, the water table. The sump pit is filled with stone that will initially hold and help to percolate the water into the ground down to the water table.  
           [0004]    The method can be used immediately for new, remodeled, or renovated structures.  
           [0005]    In many cases, a reduction of 60-85% or more of the storm/waste water flowing through the sewer system would eliminate excessive overflow into municipal sewage treatment plants, thereby preventing the pollution of streams, rivers and lakes.  
           [0006]    In another form, the inventive method provides for a replacement of the lateral sewage conduit leading from the residence to the main sewer line.  
           [0007]    Many residential structures have a lateral, that is, a sewer line between the main sewer and the building, that is old, leaking ground water at joints, broken, and plugged. These old lines should be replaced with new four inch PVC conduit, installed just below grade and hooked to the main sewer. Instead of directing the new line vertically down through the basement floor and then horizontally toward the sewer line, the new line is directed horizontally several feet above the basement floor, to the outside ground and then vertically down to the sewer line. This would eliminate sewer back-up, prevent seepage of ground water into the pipe, and dramatically reduce replacement costs to the homeowner.  
           [0008]    Another way to reduce storm water from entering a sewer system, thereby reducing the load at the municipal water treatment facility and preventing sewer back-up in basements, is to break out the bottom of catch basins that collect storm water. A hole is augured down to the water table and filled with stone to percolate the water from the street to the underground rivers.  
           [0009]    Still further objects and advantages of the invention, will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains upon reference to the following detailed description. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    The description refers to the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views and in which:  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating the preferred method employed for discharging waste water from a residential structure to a sewer line; and  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 illustrates storm water being percolated to the water table rather than to the conventional sewer line. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0013]    Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional residential structure  10  having an upper floor  12  and a lower basement floor  14 . For illustrative purposes, upper floor  12  supports several sources of waste water including a tub/shower  16 , a lavatory  18 , a water closet  20 , and a kitchen sink  22 . A washer  24  is located in the basement, however, it could be located on the main or upper floor. Basement floor  14  has floor drains at  26  and at  28 .  
         [0014]    Another source of water is a downspout  30 , which discharges rain water into a storm water footing drain.  
         [0015]    In many existing structures, the commode or water closet discharges solid waste through a drain conduit  32  connected directly through a drain line  34  that is normally beneath the basement, to a municipal sewer system  36 . Similarly, the kitchen sink  22  discharges through a drain line  36  to drain line  34 .  
         [0016]    Drain line  34  preferably has a horizontal drain line section several feet above the basement floor which discharges the waste solids through a vertical drain line  38 , several feet down to the sanitary sewer. The advantage of this arrangement is that should the sewer system  36  become overloaded, any backup would be unable to rise completely through drain line  38  into the residence, thus ensuring that there is no damage to the contents of the residence.  
         [0017]    In the preferred method, a sump pit  40  either existing or which may be constructed, extends down into the ground from the basement floor. Waste water from washer  24  is discharged through a drain line  42  to a generally horizontal drain line  44  to the sump pit. Similarly, water from the basement floor passing through drain  28  is discharged through a drain line  46  to drain line  44  and then into the sump pit.  
         [0018]    Storm water from down spout  30  passes through a drain line  46  to the sump pit. A drain line  48  discharges water from floor drain  26  into the sump pit. Sump pit  40  is bottomless so that the waste water percolates downwardly into the ground and in some cases to an underground waterway, such as a water table.  
         [0019]    Waste water from the bathroom tub or shower is discharged through a drain line  50  to a vertical drain line  52  into sump pit  40 . Similarly, waste water from the lavatory is discharged through a drain line  54  to drain line  52  and then into the sump pit.  
         [0020]    A sump pump  56  in the sump pit handles any overload, that is where the water is not percolating into the ground from the sump pit quickly enough. The pump delivers overload water from the sump pit through a drain line  58  to an outside area above ground level  60 , such as another collection area for percolating into the ground.  
         [0021]    Thus it can be seen that all the sources of waste water, that is from the tub and shower, the lavatory and the washer are all discharged into the sump pit and then percolated into the ground. In some cases, it may be convenient to discharge the waste water directly to an outside collection area, not shown, bypassing the sump pit. Similarly, storm water is discharged into the sump pit and into the ground. Any overload from the sump pit is discharged outside of the residential structure. All the solids from the water closet and the kitchen sink are discharged to the main sewer system, preferably through an inclined or horizontal conduit supported several feet above the basement floor.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 2 illustrates another version of the invention in which storm water that is typically directed to the sewer system, is discharged instead to water table  100 . In this embodiment of the invention, the storm or surface water is delivered to a sump pit  102 . The bottom of the sump pit is connected to an augured hole  104  that extends down to water table  100 . Hole  104  is filled with stones  106 . The storm water percolates from sump pit  102  down to the water table or other underground waterway.  
         [0023]    An alternative is to store the water in a retention area  108  using isolators having their bottoms removed to form openings  110  for passing the water into the ground where it can then percolate to an underground waterway.