Sink and Drain in Outdoor Kitchen?

[dw886]

So we have our pool build mostly done (still some equipment to hook up, but we ran out of time before Winter set in). Currently in the process of planning out the surroundings with various landscapers.

I was thinking about including a drop-in ice bucket in the countertop of our outdoor island / bar. The challenge is that when ice melts, you have water that needs to go somewhere. I have zero drains in the rear of our house - everything goes out the front. Concrete is down, so there's no good way to get there...so I was thinking about going the easy route, and just using a 5-gallon bucket under the tray and dumping it out, or running a hose over to the pipe that is handling the downspout water.

After thinking about this more and more, I remembered that I have a 1" sprinkler supply line coming out the side of my house that we don't use because we source irrigation water from a lake in our back yard - it happens to be right at the end of the proposed island location. This same line has a hose bib in the basement for draining the line in the winter so it doesn't freeze. I also have a water supply bib in the same spot, so I'm suddenly thinking cold-water sink instead of ice bucket...

• How crazy would I be to use my hose bib as a supply line for the sink (using a small chunk of lead-free hose), and then put a drain / laundry pump under the sink sending water backward through my sprinkler supply line, out the hose drain bib in the basement through a hose 6' to the drain in the furnace room?
• What does a person do to prevent precipitation from getting into an outdoor sink (and in my case, flowing back into the house)? I see this as being a problem after things are "winterized" and the drain pump is removed for winter and the lines are blown out...

I know that I'd be limited to liquid going down the drain, and that I'd also be limited to cold water, but I'm OK with both of those limits, and would likely put a built-in strainer into the sink to protect myself from visitors.

The island will start about 12" away the house, next to these lines:

 

[pooldv]

Why not just drain the water into that nice rock lined bed right there? I have a cold water only sink in the outdoor bathroom (which is handy!) and a shower with hot water that just drain through under the deck and down the hill. There really isn't much water involved and there haven't been any issues with it. There are some pics in my pool thread, link in sig.

 

[dw886]

That rock area is a half-circle about twice as wide as what you see in the picture, and otherwise completely surrounded by concrete. We put it in there so we could plant some plants to cover up all of the venting that's to the right of the picture (pvc pipe venting for the furnace and the boiler). Our soil is all clay, so while you'd think it would drain by the looks of it, it would either stand there, or slowly seep down the foundation until it hit the drain tile that's around the house, hit the house sump pump pit, and be pumped back out to the lake. If we do the Ice Bin idea, then it's probably not a big deal and we could just do that. If we go with the sink, I could see it flooding the rocks.

Here's a little bit better angle of what I'm dealing with, and the initial layout that one landscaper is proposing for the island. There's a door and steps that go in to the left of the pool cover switch that's mounted to the wall - that's why the concrete comes back to meet the house after the vents.

 

[BeachHead]

..... so I'm suddenly thinking cold-water sink instead of ice bucket...

• How crazy would I be to use my hose bib as a supply line for the sink (using a small chunk of lead-free hose), and then put a drain / laundry pump under the sink sending water backward through my sprinkler supply line, out the hose drain bib in the basement through a hose 6' to the drain in the furnace room?
• What does a person do to prevent precipitation from getting into an outdoor sink (and in my case, flowing back into the house)? I see this as being a problem after things are "winterized" and the drain pump is removed for winter and the lines are blown out...

I know that I'd be limited to liquid going down the drain, and that I'd also be limited to cold water, but I'm OK with both of those limits, and would likely put a built-in strainer into the sink to protect myself from visitors.

I share your pain! I plan to build an outdoor kitchen, and I would like to have a sink, more for running water, and to rinse off hands while cooking, etc. During the build, I'd wanted to plumb into the house system, but I couldn't get enough fall to the pipe from my location to where I could hook in, so I'm in a similar boat.

Since I'm not a plumber, or contractor, I'd probably give your idea a shot, using the biggest diameter hoses I could find between the hose bibs and drain. I'd solve the winter precip issue with a three layer (probably overkill) defense: a sink cover with some weight to it, and a rubber seal; a sink drain plug, and when I installed the plumbing for the sink, I'd put some sort of "T" in the drain with some valves, so I could bypass the house portion, and just have it drain to the outside of the kitchen. Thought there is some water will make it through any cover, and any plug, and if it's wet outside already, is anyone going to care if some leaks out from the sink, as long as it drains away from the house of course! And now, I'll let the pro's tell you what you should do.

Other ideas to consider (probably overly elaborate..I mean expensive and complex!) would be a holding tank with a macerator pump that you could then use to water your plants. And if you want hot water, and have electricity nearby, you can buy small, on demand type electric water heaters you can install in the cabinetry, but that might encourage more sink use.

Please share pictures of your build, it's always nice to see how someone else solves problems, and to steal good ideas..

 

[atttech-2]

I am no where near getting my outdoor kitchen built but have been thinking about it since we decided to get the pool. We are lucky we have lots of planter areas and lawn so as long as we use environmentally safe soap we should be fine. Will just be for washing hands rinsing bbq tools things like. Never the less I do want to build a system that does not clog and will not allow a bunch of debris to exit the system and lay on the ground to rot. My plan is to build a removable catch basin out of a 5 gallon bucket. Most of the time the bucket will be just allowed to leach the waste water out to the yard but the plumbing connections will be threaded so that every so often I can remove the bucket to clean the sludge from the bottom. The idea is based on a septic system no idea if it will work out but cost to try will be low so I am going to give it a shot. Here is a crude drawing of the idea

 

[pooldv]

That's an interesting theory. I'd be a little concerned about it starting to smell. I guess you could use a bucket with a lid and drill a hole for the drain line to enter the bucket. That would keep varmints out too.

 

[atttech-2]

yup that is the plan bucket would definitely have a lid and sink will have a P trap. Vent pipe would be most likely source of rancid smells there is a tree near where we plan on building the sink so I could hide the pipe up into the tree well above everyone’s noses if need be.

 

[pooldv]

Hey, here's a thought. When I put in the outdoor bathroom I didn't want to do a vent pipe behind the toilet so I put in a tee in the waste line and added this right at ground level. Works great, no stink, no burping plumbing. And it is installed just a few feet before the septic tank.

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