Can I attach a yard drain to the waste pipe?

[Tartan]

Hi

Hopefully the right place to post this! I have an inground pool and the pool pad is in another part of the back yard in a low spot. The trouble I have is that when we get lots of rain (NJ) the low part of the yard floods, including the pool pad. I've raised the pump and booster pump off the ground as much as I can without having to redo all the plumbing as the flooding already killed the previous pumps.

I had the idea that I could dig a hole near the pump pad and put a drain in and plumb it into the waste pipe from the multi-port (underground) and it would drain the water away from the area. The waste pipe already joins with a couple of gutter drains further (50+ft) away away so it all drains to the street so I don't think this would be that bad, I don't see how it would back up to the multi-port as that is a couple of feet off the ground and worse case is nothing happens and I still have a flooded pad... Given I'd be plumbing a drain nearer the pool pad to the waste pipe I wasn't sure if this would be bad for any reason so thought I'd ask,,,

Digging a whole new trench to drain further away is something I would like to avoid as there's obviously the waste pipe going underground somewhere already, the gas line for the heater and a few rather large pine trees which will have roots everywhere too so it would not be a simple job.

Thoughts/advice?

Thanks!

 

[jamjam]

Would there be any risk of your waste and backwash routing to that drain? sometimes the waste line is not sloped properly as a gravity drain since it’s under pump pressure

 

[JerseyPool2021]

I’m also in NJ. My landscaper just tied the gutters, ground drain near patio and the backwash from the pool to one drain. He deals with pools often only recommended it because they were all in close proximity. I like that I don’t need to deal with a hose. The pool is brand new so I don’t have any experience with it just yet.

 

[cptkirk]

If the street drains well when it rains heavily, the existing drain pipes are all running downhill, and they are sufficiently large to carry the extra water then it seems to me it should work. Seems like you could put a check valve in the yard drain to prevent any backflow from coming out the yard drain when you backwash or if the drain pipes are overwhelmed by a heavy rain.

 

[Tartan]

Would there be any risk of your waste and backwash routing to that drain? sometimes the waste line is not sloped properly as a gravity drain since it’s under pump pressure

good point! I hadn't thought of that.... I guess I could turn the multi-port to waste and see if water starts flowing to the street without the pump forcing it out. I'll need to wait for some dry weather as it's wet this weekend.

 

[Tartan]

I’m also in NJ. My landscaper just tied the gutters, ground drain near patio and the backwash from the pool to one drain. He deals with pools often only recommended it because they were all in close proximity. I like that I don’t need to deal with a hose. The pool is brand new so I don’t have any experience with it just yet.

sounds like the same setup I have, gutters and the pool waste line all join around the driveway and then to the street, hoping this is just one little addition.

 

[Tartan]

If the street drains well when it rains heavily, the existing drain pipes are all running downhill, and they are sufficiently large to carry the extra water then it seems to me it should work. Seems like you could put a check valve in the yard drain to prevent any backflow from coming out the yard drain when you backwash or if the drain pipes are overwhelmed by a heavy rain.

I like the idea of a check-valve, hadn't thought of that!

The drain to the street handles the volume fine at the moment and has no issue when I backwash the filter which has the pump forcing water out of it. I'd not generally be backwashing or sending to waste during a rainstorm (unless the pool is overflowing) so it would just be a couple of the gutter downspouts sharing with this drain and given the waste pipe is only 1.5" PVC and the gutter and main drain to street is 3" I don't believe this is going to cause any backup of water to the gutters. I'll probably only go with a 4 or 6 inch grate as I'll need to bring the size down anyway to join with the 1.5" waste pipe so hopefully I can get way with one coupling else it may be a couple of those to achieve my goal and a Y connector to the waste pipe.

If I fit the drain then it's going to get rid of the water as it accumulates rather than in one big dump of water too so I don't think it will screw it up and cause water to backlog on the gutter drains. If it does then I'll be removing the new drain cover and starting from square one

Guess I'll be digging soon to see where the waste pipe goes once it hits the ground to see where best to place this new drain and get the right angles!