[potterl]

Hi,
I have a washing machine in my basement, which pumps out through a 1" fexible hose, up about 6 feet, through a hole in the basement ceiling, out though a hole in the side of the house. Problem is, the plastic flexible hose (outside) freezes in the winter. There is about a 1-2 foot drop from where the hose comes out of the side of the house, but the water seems to stay in the hose and freeze up. We had a new drywall ceiling put in last year and put foam insulation around the opening where the hose omes out so the mice don't come in during the colder months. (Fix one problem and create another? ) Can the washing machine hose/drainage be linked to the PVC pipe to the septic tank or is this a bad idea? I would prefer it to continue to be pumped up and out to the backyard, as it has for years, but the freezing of the hose is a problem in winter months. I also have a sump pump that is about 8 feet away from the washer, in a hole 3 feet lower than the floor level. We get lots of water in the basement in the spring months if the water table is high and I have had to keep the sump pump running for months at a time. Sometimes that flexible hose has frozen also. Let me know your suggestions.
Lee

[donf]

Potter,

I'm definitely not a plumber but your set up sounds very wrong.

First are there any local plumbing department or sanitary department that say you can discharge "Gray" water directly outside your wall onto your grounds? I do not suspect that there any such rules.

You must have a serious erosion problem both on the ground outside of the house as well as under the foundation. The first thing you need to do is get to a hardware store and purchase some flexible tubing that will fit over your discharge hose, It has to be long enough to at least 15 or 20 feet away from the wall, hopefully on a downward slope away from the house.

Next, get on the phone to several plumbers that specialize in drainage problems. Tell them you need to get cost estimated for a "Gray water" discharge tank system.

This type of tank does not cost as much as a normal septic system does because it does not have to break down any biological waste.

Also consider having your septic tank pumped and cleaned of sludge at least once every two years.