I have an effluent pump in my lower level. When I had the house built several yrs. Ago I hired a plumbing company to do all the plumbing. My effluent pump had to be replaced after seven yrs. And it was at this time that I found out there was a vent hole in the pit cover which was capped off with about a four inch piece of plastic pipe placed into the hole with a plastic cap sealing same. The plumber said that this is acceptable and sees no need to vent. If it does in fact need to be vented what would be the proper way. He was talking about ventling it into the main discharge pipe from the house to the septic tank.Is this acceptable?

I have an effluent pit with pump in my lower level. I have a septic system. When I had the house built the plumber placed a four inch capped pipe into the vent hole and said it was not necessary to vent same. He said if he did vent it, it would have to be run into the main drain pipe that goes out to the septic system. Is he right? The house was built in 2003 and I have just found this problem because the original pump recently had to be replaced.

Hi Solkonnichi:

Nope... the plumber is feeding you bad info.! Obviously, the first plumber did not pull a plumbing permit for this work... correct?

All sewage ejectors require a separate vent to be piped up and out the roof individually. Some local plumbing codes will allow you to connect an ejector pit vent into the existing house vent stack just before it goes out the roof, but that is an exception and usually requires the plumbing inspector's approval. Most inspectors will not allow this.

Further, if that ejector pit wasn't vented then for what it is worth I'm pretty sure that the pit has been venting through the fixtures in the bathroom that this pump serves. This means that sewer gasses have been getting into the bathroom and simply put... that's not a healthy thing!

Pipe the 2" vent up and through the roof or at a minimum connect it into the existing vent stack about 2 feet below where the roof penetrates the roof. In cases like your I have run a 2" vent up through closets to get to the attic... worked pretty good without having to tear walls open.

Let us know if you would like to discuss more... OK?

MARK