Sewer Grinder Pump Installation and Plumbing Hookup
Step-by-step guide made from Indy Farm Life's YouTube video.
Install an underground E-One sewer grinder pump basin outside a new home foundation to pump waste across a flat 850-foot run. Excavate the pit and trench, compact a #53 crushed stone base, lower the pump basin onto modular concrete ballast blocks, and connect the 4-inch PVC house inlet with a two-way cleanout and the 1-1/4-inch HDPE discharge line.
The full step-by-step Spetz Specs for this project (every part, size, diagram and step, free): Sewer Grinder Pump Installation and Plumbing Hookup Spetz Specs.
- Difficulty: advanced
- Finished size: 3 ft x 3 ft
Safety
- Locate all existing buried utilities and drain lines before excavating the pit and trench to avoid damaging underground pipes or striking hazards.
- Use a machine with smooth hydraulic controls and a rated nylon lifting strap when suspending and lowering the heavy grinder pump basin into an open excavation.
- Exercise caution when working inside deep, unshored trenches and pits, and keep heavy equipment stabilized away from the trench edge.
Must know before you build
- Use grinder pump with 1-1/4in HDPE for long, flat runs; no laser grading needed.
- Leave plumbing connections exposed in gravel bed until municipal inspection is complete.
- Bury HDPE discharge line below local frost line (36-44in) to prevent pressurized line freezing.
- Bevel cut outer edge of 4-inch PVC pipe with a hand file for smooth insertion into pump grommet.
- Install precast concrete ballast blocks around basin flange to prevent pump from floating.
Tools
- Backhoe loader (heavy excavator / backhoe, Case, 580)
- Spirit level (box beam level)
- Round-point shovel (hand shovel, Truper)
- Compact utility tractor (front-end loader tractor with bucket and pallet forks, John Deere)
- Hand tamper (steel ground tamper)
- Steel wool (abrasive pad) (optional)
- Reciprocating saw (cordless reciprocating saw, DeWalt)
- Nylon lifting strap (webbing strap)
- Stepladder (A-frame stepladder) (optional)
- Tape measure (retractable tape measure)
- Tongue-and-groove pliers (adjustable pliers) (optional)
- Hand file (metal file)
Materials
- Sewer grinder pump (1, grinder pump basin unit, E-One, Model DH-071, 28 in diameter, 4 in inlet)
- HDPE discharge pipe (1000 ft roll, high-density polyethylene pipe, 1-1/4 in, 1-1/4 in diameter)
- #53 crushed stone (2 tractor buckets for base pad plus backfill, crushed gravel, #53, 6 to 10 in base depth)
- PVC sewer pipe (non-pressure PVC sewer pipe, ASTM F891-16, 4 in, 4 in diameter)
- PVC pipe cleaner (1 can, solvent pipe cleaner)
- Two-way PVC cleanout tee (1, PVC sanitary cleanout tee, 4 in)
- Precast modular concrete ballast (4 pieces, precast concrete anchor collar, 3 ft x 3 ft assembled)
- Dish soap (1 bottle, liquid dish soap / pipe lubricant)
- PVC primer and cement (1 can each, solvent weld primer and PVC glue, Purple PVC primer and PVC solvent cement)
- Compression fitting coupler (1, 1-1/4 in male pipe thread (MPT) to compression adapter, 1-1/4 in)
- Pipe thread sealant (PTFE pipe thread paste, RectorSeal, T Plus 2)
- Synthetic grease (3 oz tube, synthetic lubricant, Super Lube)
- PVC cleanout adapter and threaded cap (1, PVC female cleanout adapter and threaded plug, 4 in)
Step by step
Step 1: Excavate the Pump Pit and Trench
Dig the deep pit outside the house sewer sleeve and excavate the initial section of the discharge trench while locating existing buried drain lines.
- Excavate the pit outside the foundation sewer sleeve. Use a backhoe to dig a deep pit outside the house foundation wall directly in front of the sewer sleeve, over-digging the depth by 6 to 10 inches to allow for a compacted #53 crushed stone base.
- Tip: Over-dig the pit depth slightly and bring it back up to exact elevation with compacted #53 crushed stone.
- Tip: Account for a 1/8 inch per foot downward slope on the gravity sewer line from the house to the pump inlet (about 1/2 inch of fall over a 4 to 5 foot run, or per local code) when checking your pit depth and elevation.
- Excavate the initial discharge trench and verify buried drain depth. Dig the starting section of the discharge trench away from the pit, exposing any nearby buried gravity drain lines to confirm you have at least 44 inches of cover for the discharge line.
- Tip: Uncover any intersecting gravity drain lines before backfilling the pump pit so you don't accidentally break them later.
- Tip: Plan for a 6 to 8 inch minimum compacted gravel pad at the bottom of the pit.
Step 2: Prepare the Gravel Base and Clean the Sewer Sleeve
Dump and tamp a 10-inch base pad of #53 crushed stone in the pit, dry-fit a PVC pipe to check the 1/8-inch-per-foot fall, and scrub waterproofing residue out of the house sewer sleeve.
- Dump and tamp the #53 crushed stone pad and check pipe elevation. Dump two tractor buckets of #53 crushed stone into the bottom of the pit, tamp it level to create a 10-inch base pad, and dry-fit a 4-inch PVC pipe with a spirit level to verify the fall from the house sleeve to the pump inlet.
- Tip: Dry-fit a length of 4-inch PVC pipe out of the foundation sleeve with a level on it to check your pad height against the pump's inlet elevation before setting the pump.
- Clean foundation waterproofing out of the sewer sleeve. Cut away the foam insulation around the foundation sewer exit and scrub any black waterproofing coating out of the inside of the PVC sleeve using PVC pipe cleaner and steel wool.
- Tip: Use standard PVC pipe cleaner and steel wool to scrub foundation waterproofing tar out of the inside of the sewer sleeve.
- Common mistake: Trying to glue a PVC pipe into a foundation sewer sleeve that still has black foundation waterproofing coated on the inside.
Step 3: Place the Ballast and Lower the Pump into the Pit
Set the four concrete ballast blocks in the bottom of the pit, rig a nylon lifting strap around the top of the grinder pump, and lower the basin into the pit using tractor pallet forks.
- Stage the modular concrete ballast blocks in the pit. Place the four precast concrete ballast blocks on the compacted gravel pad at the bottom of the pit, spread apart so the pump basin can be lowered directly between them.
- Tip: Place the modular ballast pieces in the bottom of the pit before lowering the pump so you don't have to maneuver heavy concrete blocks around the basin later.
- Tip: Use the machine with the smoothest hydraulics (such as a compact tractor loader rather than a jerky backhoe) when lowering the pump basin.
- Rig the lifting strap and lower the pump basin with tractor forks. Choke a nylon lifting strap around the upper corrugations of the grinder pump basin, suspend it from tractor pallet forks, and slowly lower the basin onto the center of the gravel pad while guiding it upright.
- Watch out: Only lift the basin by the upper body with a nylon strap when the concrete ballast is not attached; if concrete is pre-cast onto the bottom, you must lift by the lower wire eyes.
Step 4: Connect the PVC Inlet Pipe and Cleanout
Level the pump basin, mark the 3 to 3-1/2 inch insertion depth on the 4-inch PVC inlet pipe, bevel the pipe end with a file, solvent-weld the cleanout tee, and slide the lubricated pipe into the pump inlet grommet.
- Level the basin and align the cleanout tee with the house sleeve. Level the grinder pump basin on the gravel pad, check the burial line on the green lid against the foundation grade, and sight through the house sewer sleeve to confirm dead-on alignment with the cleanout tee.
- Tip: Check the burial line molded into the top green cap of the basin to see how final dirt grading will sit against the foundation.
- Mark insertion depth on the inlet pipe and remove the pump inlet plug. Measure and mark a line at 3 inches and a dotted line at 3-1/2 inches from the end of the 4-inch PVC inlet pipe, then pull the protective cap out of the rubber inlet grommet on the side of the pump basin.
- Tip: Mark both 3 inches and 3-1/2 inches around the circumference of the 4-inch PVC inlet pipe so you have a clear visual stop when pushing it into the rubber grommet.
- Common mistake: Inserting the 4-inch PVC inlet pipe past the 3 to 3-1/2 inch mark into the grinder pump basin.
- Glue the cleanout tee, bevel the pipe end, and insert into the pump. Solvent-weld the 4-inch PVC pipe and two-way cleanout tee into the house sewer sleeve with primer and cement, bevel the outer edge of the pump-side PVC pipe with a hand file, coat the pipe end and rubber grommet with dish soap, and slide the pipe into the pump inlet to the 3-1/2 inch mark. Glue the vertical 4-inch PVC cleanout riser pipe and threaded cleanout adapter with cap into the top hub of the cleanout tee.
- Tip: File a bevel around the cut end of the 4-inch PVC pipe and lubricate both the pipe and rubber grommet with dish soap before sliding them together.
Step 5: Assemble the Ballast Collar and Backfill with Gravel
Position the four modular concrete ballast blocks around the base of the pump basin and backfill the pit up to the inlet pipe with #53 crushed stone compacted in 6 to 8 inch lifts.
- Set the four modular concrete ballast blocks around the pump base. Slide the four precast concrete ballast blocks tight around the bottom lip of the grinder pump basin so their curved inner edges lock over the base flange.
- Backfill and tamp #53 crushed stone in 6 to 8 inch lifts. Shovel #53 crushed stone into the pit around the concrete ballast and pump basin, compacting the stone with a hand tamper every 6 to 8 inches until the gravel reaches the inlet pipe and vertical cleanout riser.
- Tip: Tamp the #53 gravel backfill in 6 to 8 inch lifts as you work your way up the basin.
- Tip: Stop your gravel backfill at the level of the inlet and discharge pipes so the plumbing joints remain visible for the inspector.
- Common mistake: Dumping all the backfill in at once without tamping in 6 to 8 inch lifts, which leads to settling around the pipes.
Step 6: Connect the HDPE Discharge Line
Remove the red shipping plug from the discharge port, apply thread sealant to the threads and synthetic grease to the coupler O-ring, thread on the compression fitting, and connect the 1-1/4 inch HDPE discharge pipe.
- Position the HDPE pipe roll and remove the red discharge plug. Set the coil of 1-1/4 inch HDPE pipe at the edge of the discharge trench and pull the red plastic shipping plug out of the stainless steel female-threaded discharge port on the pump basin.
- Seal the pipe threads and lubricate the compression fitting O-ring. Apply PTFE pipe thread sealant paste to the male threads of the compression adapter, screw it into the pump discharge port, unscrew the outer compression nut, and lubricate the internal rubber O-ring with synthetic grease.
- Tip: Lubricate the internal O-ring inside the compression coupler with synthetic grease before assembling the joint, and use PTFE thread paste on the pipe threads.
- Common mistake: Forgetting to lubricate the internal O-ring inside the HDPE compression fitting before tightening the coupler.
- Insert the 1-1/4 inch HDPE pipe and tighten the compression coupler. Insert the end of the 1-1/4 inch HDPE discharge pipe into the compression fitting, tighten the compression collar securely, and lay the first 10 feet of pipe into the trench.