Ask Me Help Desk - Air Gap, yes or no?

My name is Sherrie McIntyre and I live in Washington State. I have a home that was built in 1952. I am replacing the drain pipes under my sink after removing a non-working, non-repairable dishwasher. It was an under the sink model and we will not be replacing it at this time.

I discovered that the drain hose was hooked up to the disposal, instead of an air gap. There is a kitchen sprayer where an air gap should be. I now have a disposal with a hose going nowhere what do I do? Do I remove the sprayer and replace it with an air gap? I have no other punchouts in my sink.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Sherrie in Seattle

P.S. Does the garbage disposal have to be on the right side or can I change it to the left. Everything I've seen shows it on the right.

We have a Expert from Seattle named Growler that's going to disagree with me but in the Tampa Bay Area we use a drip loop,(see image) instead of air gaps. Air gaps can flood a counter top if they should clog up so we loop our discharge hose up inside the cabinet as high as it will go and secure it with a pipe strap. The loop acts as a air gap. In all the hundreds of dishwashers we have installed in our new houses and condos we have never had a complaint on a drip loop installation. So you see you don't have to worry about punching another hole in your counter top. Good luck, Tom

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedball1

We have a Expert from Seattle named Growler that's gonna disagree with me but in the Tampa Bay Area we use a drip loop,(see image) instead of air gaps.

It isn't that I'm going to disagree with you out of hand, Tom -- It's that it is a code requirement here in Washington State and any other state that has adopted the Uniform Plumbing Code.

And by the way, I think you meant to say 'high loop' instead of "drip loop".:D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sherriemac2

I now have a disposal with a hose going nowhere what do I do? Do I remove the sprayer and replace it with an air gap? I have no other punchouts in my sink.

You can plug the hole in the disposal with a short piece of 7/8" hose, two hose clamps, a short piece of 3/4" copper pipe and a Cash Acme 3/4" Sharkbite end cap.

Quote:

P.S. Does the garbage disposal have to be on the right side or can I change it to the left. Everything I've seen shows it on the right.

You can have it on whichever side you like -- Since you're redoing the piping under the sink anyway, just make sure your waste stub-out is centered on the sink bowl that doesn't have the disposal.

"And by the way, I think you meant to say 'high loop' instead of "drip loop".

Potato! Potahto! You might call it a high loop but here we call it a drip loop.
Picky! picky! growler!
"P.S. Does the garbage disposal have to be on the right side or can I change it to the left. Everything I've seen shows it on the right."

growler's correct, the disposal can be installed on either side of the sink.
Here, in the Tampa Bay Area, we install our dishwashers to the right of the sink cabinet. We figure the dishes to be rinsed and put into the dishwasher
will be rinsed in the right hand tub so we install the disposal in the left hand tub for convenience.

"I now have a disposal with a hose going nowhere what do I do? Do I remove the sprayer and replace it with an air gap? I have no other punchouts in my sink."

Reconnect the dishwasher back to the disposal using a drip loop,( or if you live in Seattle a "high loop") and you can forget about punching another hole in your counter top.
Good luck, Tom