Size of discharge pipe for washing machine

Peppa Pig

Anyone know how big the outside sewer pipe should be, the one which drains the water from the washing machine and downstairs loo?

Over the last few months I occasionally get a stagnant water smell from both the washing machine and loo. Today I took off the drain cover and the drain was full. Rubber glove on, removed a few handfuls of sludge and it drained away. I then ran the sink in the loo for a few minutes and it looked like grey paint coming out for about 2 minutes until it started going a bit cloudy and then finally started to resemble water.

But when I cleared the blockage outside, the hole at the side of the bottom of the drain is no bigger than my little finger (where the water goes to sewer) and it looks like a wavin pipe above it and bare earth below it with the drain "gap" the pinky sized one.

I've no real idea what I should be expecting Is such a small drain normal?

sullzz

Peppa Pig wrote: »

But when I cleared the blockage outside, the hole at the side of the bottom of the drain is no bigger than my little finger (where the water goes to sewer) and it looks like a wavin pipe above it and bare earth below it with the drain "gap" the pinky sized one.

Think I'm after getting a brain bleed trying to understand that .
Could you take a picture of it .

Peppa Pig

Knew it would be hard to explain. It's going to be difficult to photograph it but this may help. It looks like the standard gutter drain.


A is the top cover where the washing machine drains into.
B is where the pipe coming from the house from the toilet drains into.
C is where I can fit my small finger and where the all the water drains away.
From A to B is just concrete, B to C is wavin pipe.
The main sewer drain hole is between the bottom of the wavin pipe and the earth at the very bottom and is very small.

The "grey paint" sludge came from the toilet sink outlet (b). My feeling is the washing machine is not draining quickly enough and the water is backing up to the toilet and the drain is not getting fully emptied.

Dtp79

Peppa Pig wrote: »

Knew it would be hard to explain. It's going to be difficult to photograph it but this may help. It looks like the standard gutter drain.


A is the top cover where the washing machine drains into.
B is where the pipe coming from the house from the toilet drains into.
C is where I can fit my small finger and where the all the water drains away.
From A to B is just concrete, B to C is wavin pipe.
The main sewer drain hole is between the bottom of the wavin pipe and the earth at the very bottom and is very small.

The "grey paint" sludge came from the toilet sink outlet (b). My feeling is the washing machine is not draining quickly enough and the water is backing up to the toilet and the drain is not getting fully emptied.

You can out your finger in where c is? You mean from the outside?

Peppa Pig

No from inside the drain. There is a small gap under the wavin pipe and this is where the water discharges (presumably to the sewer pipe).
The pic above is one I found on the web. I can only see inside the drain and the wavin pipe when I remove the cover.

Irish Steve

OK, the incoming WC and the outgoing drain at the bottom of the invert in the channel should both be 4", 110mm, so if the outlet is smaller, which your message implies it is, then it sounds like there is an serious issue downstream from that point that is causing problems big time. There should be no earth as such at the bottom of the drain, it should be a plastic floor with a half circle 4" wide channel running through it, and the outlet is then at the downstream side of the channel, and is 4" diameter in plastic. If the water is flowing out of a pipe that's not much larger than your little finger, then there is a serious problem going on that needs to be urgently investigated, in the worst case scenario, foul water is escaping from the drains and may be running under or into the foundations of the house, it could be that serious, so don't ignore this issue.

Is that the last point on your line or is there another inspection cover closer to the main sewer? If its the last point, you may have to try rodding the connection to see if its blocked somewhere, with care, as normally, its better to rod towards an invert, not away from it. If this is the last inspection point before a main shared sewer, the other possibility is that the main sewer itself may be partially blocked, and backing up into your line.

Depending on what you find, you may have to get the drain cleared by professional company, if rodding it yourself doesn't clear it, and then see what happens.

If it starts blocking again, there may be some form of damage downstream that's causing a partial obstruction, if that's the case, a professional drain clearing company should also be able to put a CCTV camera down the line to see if there is damage or something like a tree root, or a bad connection.

There is a point where the problem is no longer yours but becomes the responsibility of the local authority if you are on main drainage, that's a subject for a later discussion, the first thing to do is try and determine what's going on, if there is a blockage, and what's caused it.

"Grey paint" is retained waste, from either the sink or WC, and it may have been there a while, so be very careful with personal hygiene if you are working on this drain, and if possible, use a bactericidal soap or similar for hand washing after working on it.

Joey the lips

Washing maching is an 1.1/2" pipe the toilet is a 4" pipe. If they are running into the sale pipe there is usally an adaptor connecting them from 1.1/2" to 4" before you start panaicking about the drainage you just need to check if its clearing as in is it building back up into the house if so then off course you have a problem

Peppa Pig

Thanks for all the replies folks. Spent a while out in the sleet this morning and I think I have the problem identified. The drain further up the house (gutter run off) was also blocked with sludge. Got a fair amount of it out and with baking soda, vinegar, hot water and a lot of scooping sludge out I got it reasonably empty. The washing machine / toilet pipe is clear now and I can actually see that it is a proper drain, similar to the picture above.
Second drain is not fully clear, God knows how long its been blocking up buy its a quick DynoRod job.