I have an in-ground pool that we put in this summer. Out by the front porch we have a sewer/drain clean-out pipe sticking up. My question is... would it be OK to plumb the backwash line from my pool filter to this pipe? To utilize it as a drain? I was thinking that I could put a check valve on the line from my filter to keep anything from going back to my filter. Also, I would put a Tee in the clean-out so it would remain all completely sealed. My concerns are, A) can the clean-out be used as a drain, or will it cause problems with the plumbing of my house seeing as when I backwash my filter it would be pumping in a couple hundred gallons of water into the clean-out. Is it possible to go backwards through my house drains and like overflow my toilets or come out my sinks? B) Is there any danger of the clorine in the water being a problem? Don't want to blow up the sewer system in my neighborhood :D No idea if this is even a valid worry.

The reason I would rather go the route of disposing the waste water from my pool into this pipe is, I won't have to dig a big hole and fill it with gravel. And I don't want the clorine water to possibly kill grass or plants in my yard.

Thanks in advance for any advice, Marc

Hi Marc,

It's against the law to direct storm water run off, pool backwash or AC condensate lines into a public sewer system. The reason being that every gallon that goes into the system must be processed and cleansed. If everybody exhausted their runoffs into the sewer system it would overload it.
Go with the dry well. Good luck, Tom

Tom,
Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. Okey doke, Makes sense. I guess my shovel and I are going to have an intimate weekend! Thanks again, Marc

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