Water Softener Drain Line Height

Many of the home improvement stores sell big box water softeners and installation kits to get them connected.

Water softener drain line height.

A softener drain line must not be connected directly to the waste system but must be emptied into a laundry tray floor drain or properly trapped special outlet preserving an air gap of at least two times the diameter of the drain line but in no case less than 1 1 2 above the top of the receptacle used. A physical air gap of at least 3 inches 76 mm between the end of the drain line and the wastewater level in the drain pipe should be used to avoid contamination of the line. By code water softeners must be emptied into a laundry sink floor drain sump hole or properly trapped special outlet preserving an air gap of at. Where to place the water softener so you do not exceed 20 feet for the drain line.

For most water softeners if you route the softener s drain line too high more than 8 ft. On water softener service calls in minnesota we find a wide variety of drain line material being used. Now comes the tricky bit. Jan 9 2013 gary slusser jan 9 2013.

Drain fitting drain water comes out under line pressure so it can be run vertically to connect to an overhead drain pipe. There are no solids in the drain water of softeners or backwashed or regenerated filters and if there were the drain line flow is sufficient to flush them out. This is to prevent non potable water from flowing backwards possibly mixing and contaminating potable drinking water. Such as sewer water.

Above the floor on which the softener base resides or too distant more than 20 ft or if the drain line diameter is too small model dependent might be 3 4 diameter then back pressure in the water softener drain piping can cause back pressure on. The drain hose that comes from the water softener needs to terminate in a manner that won t create a potential cross connection between the potable water and anything else.