| Pipe Slope |
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The trick to making a DWV system work correctly is installing pipes at a moderate slope (usually about 1/4-inch per running foot) so water and solid waste move together. But how can you do that when the toilet or sink drain are in the basement and below the level of the DWV outlet from the home? The solution is gravity-flush toilets that use air pressure to push waste up to the DWV line. These are special toilets that cost more to buy and install than standard fixtures. However, they may be the only solution for low bathrooms. Shower drains, too, may require pressurized lines to remove used water. Separate sewage ejection systems can be purchased and installed in your basement bathroom to solve the problem. In some houses you may be able to plan the bathroom to be in a location where little or no pressurization is needed for DWV lines. Alternately, your home may originally have been built with a lower incoming DWV line in anticipation of someone finishing the basement and including a bathroom. Another option is to consider an ecologically-friendly toilet that either burns or composts waste so it doesn’t needed to be connected to the sewer line. Because DWV lines typically are installed below floors and because basement floors often are of concrete, your basement plans may require digging up and installing the needed sewer lines. To avoid this messy and costly job, consider placing the bathroom and any other rooms that need under-floor plumbing as close as possible to the main DWV line and running needed pipes in false walls and floors.
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