Long story short - our sump pump (which doubles as a lift for the downstairs sink and washer) is 1/3 HP. When it is pushing water up and out the main drain line, it's putting out enough pressure that some of the water gets sidetracked and goes up the tub drain pipe, therefore putting some of the drainage water from downstairs into the tub, which is of course meant to go out the main pipe exiting the house.
I began to wonder, what if I put a check valve in? I picked one up tonight but now that I'm home I'm a little unsure if it'll work. The spring within the check valve seems quite light, but when I blow into the valve, it feels as though it takes a bit more pressure than I anticipated to successfully open the valve and flow through.
Attached is a picture of the area in question. There's copper, galvanized, and PVC all in one (not my doing... I'm just the 2nd owner of the home trying to make things work). The copper pipe which comes down on a 45 and into the galvanized fixture is the tub drain. The curved PVC which swoops in is from the sump pump.
I guess what I'm questioning is, do you think the water coming from the tub drain (copper pipe) would have enough pressure to open a check valve and successfully flow through? If so, this would be an awesomely simple way to ensure the sump pump isn't forcing water up into the tub when it runs. If not, I'm SOL and back to the drawing board.
Thanks everyone!
http://i.imgur.com/NyL8U.jpg
I began to wonder, what if I put a check valve in? I picked one up tonight but now that I'm home I'm a little unsure if it'll work. The spring within the check valve seems quite light, but when I blow into the valve, it feels as though it takes a bit more pressure than I anticipated to successfully open the valve and flow through.
Attached is a picture of the area in question. There's copper, galvanized, and PVC all in one (not my doing... I'm just the 2nd owner of the home trying to make things work). The copper pipe which comes down on a 45 and into the galvanized fixture is the tub drain. The curved PVC which swoops in is from the sump pump.
I guess what I'm questioning is, do you think the water coming from the tub drain (copper pipe) would have enough pressure to open a check valve and successfully flow through? If so, this would be an awesomely simple way to ensure the sump pump isn't forcing water up into the tub when it runs. If not, I'm SOL and back to the drawing board.
Thanks everyone!
http://i.imgur.com/NyL8U.jpg