Backwater Vavle: 2 layers of protection desired

381 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by RNB, Apr 21, 2020

RNB

Discussion Starter · Apr 18, 2020 (Edited)

Hello -

I'm looking for some advice/second-third opinions and appreciate any!

Last year our neighborhood experienced two sewer backups due to some (putting it nicely) unknowledgeable neighbors flushing wipes....We live in the house with the lowest drain on the street...so you know where this is leading.

The City installed one of the basic cast iron check-valves and paid for restoration, and when those neighbors continued flushing wipes, another event occurred, and that check-valve failed. Yeah... Pissed, upset, angry, you name it, emotions ran rampant.

So...we undertook a campaign to educate everyone about what not to flush, included the City to make it official, etc., and we had a Mainline ML-FR4 backwater valve http://backwatervalve.com/index.html installed (we have limited slope on our sewer line) and while we understand this is a far superior valve, we cannot get past wanting to have more then one layer of protection, over-engineer the solution, ie, not have a single point of failure should something happen again.

The ML-FR4 is installed near the house and is 60 feet from the street.
The lowest drain is below the washout at the ML-FR4.

So, we're considering adding another valve somewhere to hopefully foolproof it, but haven't yet figured out exactly where and what type of valve would do the trick. Thoughts are something like the Mainline Straight-Fit.

Appreciate any guidance on this!
RNB

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RNB

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 19, 2020

Thanks, I'm not quite following the pump idea though.
This would be something like:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Little-...2-HP-Submersible-Sewage-Pump-520100/204264930

Installed in a basin inline on the sewage line, near the street, and overflow would route, out of the basin through a manhole cover and onto the street?

Is there anything less intrusive that would just reliably block the flow down our sewage line with little risk of failure and not putting sewage onto the street?
Your not a fan of the Straight-Fit or one of those Clean Check valves in addition to the ML-FR4 on the line?

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

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RNB

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 21, 2020

Jawster said:
What about the mainline you have (which is "normally open") plus a branch style (which is "normally closed", flapper type) protecting your floor drain and any basement bathroom group?

I decided to contact the Mainline manufacturer about such, and that is pretty much what Gabe recommended. The Straight-Fit about 5-10 feet downstream from the "open port" ML-FR4. The Straight-Fit http://www.backwater-valves.com/Straight-Fit-Backwater-Valves.asp is a closed port flapper style, though not cast iron like the check-valve the city installed, so "stuff" should flow through it easier. We also now know to flush water through it a bit more, so will be doing that.

The thing I like about the Straight-Fit is the flapper is apparently easily removable to clean by the homeowner, there is also a Test Gate that can be inserted to manually close it all up if desired.

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