Search the forum,

Continuous stream of water in waste pipe

Discuss Continuous stream of water in waste pipe in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

P

plumber_n00b

Messages
8
Hello,

I am a homeowner and new here. I have a mysterious (for me) issue related to my house plumbing system. Recently (a few months ago) I noticed that there is a constant stream of water in waste drain pipe of my plumbing system. The stream of water in the waste drain pipe only stops when I close the mains. In the last few months, my water bill has jumped up significantly. I am unable to understand why is there so much water running through the waste drain pipe when, no taps are being used in the house.

Below, I have attached a picture of my plumbing system highlighting a few points

1. The waste drain pipe which has a constant stream of water, regardless of usage in the house
2. Grundfos Selectric UPS2 15-50/60 130 pump. This used to be on, with a control switch. I have not seen it on for months now. Not sure if this is related to the issue in point 1
3. Pipe through which I can feel the water flow to the waste drain pipe
4. Water software in my plumbing system so all the water to the house flows through the water softener.

I would like to know why is this happening? I hope someone can point me into the right direction so that I know what to investigate.

Thank you for your help.
Andy

plumbing.png
 
Donā€™t leave it too long before getting it attended to - any failure / blockage in your drain line, will result in a real mess.

As stated earlier you must use a G3 Engineer to work on the UV system
 
Looks like air source or solar guys
 
Andy,

For clarity, the Dimplex Cylinder is an Unvented Cylinder with a buffer store - as Shaun said usually used with a ā€œrenewable energyā€ system. You will know what your system is.

This is not a system to ā€œtinkerā€ around with.

My assumption is that the relief valve on the combination valve, has been operated (or been fiddled with) and is now stuck open, but it may be more complicated than that. I say that (the latter) because in your detailed explanation you have not said that you can see water flowing through through the black tundish. The tundish is at the far end of your line 1 (green) on the back wall of your cupboard, below the white control panel.

Suffice to say, continuously running water in a relief valve drain line is not a good thing. It can only ever leak!

To work on the part of your system that is Unvented (ie. pressurised) you need a G3 qualified engineer. My advice would also be, to work on any part of your system you should use someone who is conversant with hear pimp systems.

From what you say ( from where you think the water is coming from ) it appears to be a relief valve issue. However, you may be mistaken in your location and it could possibly be the water softener. The recharge valve may not have completed a full sequence and is stuck in the open position - that could give you continuously running water through the mol sieve catalyst. To test for this, isolate the water softener (inlet and outlet) and open the bypass valve. If the running water stops with the bypass open and the inlet / outlet closed it is a softener fault.

A final point - has the water softener recently been installed? The installation of it looks to be of a far lower quality that the rest of your system. Apologies if that sounds rude.
 
He's highlighted the continuous flow of water at the tundish so it's got to be coming from the cylinder whether that's a thermal store or unvented cylinder, unless there's another type of system there that uses a tundish that I don't know about. We could do with more pictures of where the pipe connected to the top of the tundish goes.
 
This must be getting a bit confusing for Andy.

The cylinder / store is either a Dimplex ECS or an EAU, both are quite complex, one is unvented and the other isnā€™t - It is hard to tell from the photo which it is.

The comment about the filling loop from CBW is probably incorrect. The valves on the flexibles on the are almost certainly the I/O for the water softener - the third valve being the manual by pass.
 
Brambles said:
This must be getting a bit confusing for Andy.

The cylinder / store is either a Dimplex ECS or an EAU, both are quite complex, one is unvented and the other isnā€™t - It is hard to tell from the photo which it is.

The comment about the filling loop from CBW is probably incorrect. The valves on the flexibles on the are almost certainly the I/O for the water softener - the third valve being the manual by pass.
Click to expand...
Well a G3 qualified engineer would cover all bases as it serves vented and unvented
 
Riley said:
Well a G3 qualified engineer would cover all bases as it serves vented and unvented
Click to expand...

Donā€™t need to be g3 with a thermal store
 
No but Iā€™m saying G3 covers all bases and will be (hopefully) familiar with the workings of safety devices.
 
Brambles said:
Andy,

For clarity, the Dimplex Cylinder is an Unvented Cylinder with a buffer store - as Shaun said usually used with a ā€œrenewable energyā€ system. You will know what your system is.

This is not a system to ā€œtinkerā€ around with.

My assumption is that the relief valve on the combination valve, has been operated (or been fiddled with) and is now stuck open, but it may be more complicated than that. I say that (the latter) because in your detailed explanation you have not said that you can see water flowing through through the black tundish. The tundish is at the far end of your line 1 (green) on the back wall of your cupboard, below the white control panel.

Suffice to say, continuously running water in a relief valve drain line is not a good thing. It can only ever leak!

To work on the part of your system that is Unvented (ie. pressurised) you need a G3 qualified engineer. My advice would also be, to work on any part of your system you should use someone who is conversant with hear pimp systems.

From what you say ( from where you think the water is coming from ) it appears to be a relief valve issue. However, you may be mistaken in your location and it could possibly be the water softener. The recharge valve may not have completed a full sequence and is stuck in the open position - that could give you continuously running water through the mol sieve catalyst. To test for this, isolate the water softener (inlet and outlet) and open the bypass valve. If the running water stops with the bypass open and the inlet / outlet closed it is a softener fault.

A final point - has the water softener recently been installed? The installation of it looks to be of a far lower quality that the rest of your system. Apologies if that sounds rude.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for such a detailed reply. I understood most of it (due to lack of understanding about all the plumbing terms). Will go home and do another diagram to clarify some of the points raised in your reply.

To your final point - no, the water softener was installed more than 3 year ago. This issue only started a few months ago. Something I forgot to mention (and you just reminded me), I installed an under-the-sink RO filter few months ago. Yikes! Could that be an issue?

Although, after I noticed the water stream, I have turned the RO system off and haven't used it in the past few months since this started. So I am not sure how the two could be related as there is no water passing through the RO system at all.
 
Andy

If you PM message me or email [email protected] I can forward you a fault finding tree for systems like yours. Unfortunately, I cannot post it here - it has a copy write restriction on it

I doubt that the RO is the culprit. With respect to your cylinder, I have now properly identified it - it is not and unvented system.

Apologies for any confusion.
 
Brambles said:
Andy

If you PM message me or email [email protected] I can forward you a fault finding tree for systems like yours. Unfortunately, I cannot post it here - it has a copy write restriction on it

I doubt that the RO is the culprit. With respect to your cylinder, I have now properly identified it - it is not and unvented system.

Apologies for any confusion.
Click to expand...

May I ask why not post it up here then for everyone ?
 
Shaun,

It is a manufacturerā€™s document that has copyright protection (stamped all over it) - if it did not have that, I would openly post it.

As and when I get time, I will revamp it into a document that can go into the public domain
 
Last edited:
Brambles said:
Andy

If you PM message me or email [email protected] I can forward you a fault finding tree for systems like yours. Unfortunately, I cannot post it here - it has a copy write restriction on it

I doubt that the RO is the culprit. With respect to your cylinder, I have now properly identified it - it is not and unvented system.

Apologies for any confusion.
Click to expand...
That's very kind. Thank you. I have sent you an email.
 
Is the waste def associated with the heating system ? this type of leak can also be from a wc with an internal overflow and can cost loads of money in long term. Rob Foster aka centralheatking
 
plumber_n00b said:
Sorry, Rob - is that a question for me? I wouldn't know. How do I ascertain if it is to do with WC?
Click to expand...
Well yes really and others, internal overflows are a bind because they can go un noticed
Did a McCarthy Stone Dev locally that was getting thro Ā£500 of water extra every month because the overflows were all running due to a poor press button siphon .unit wearing out after only 2 years use..loads of money, 85 x new replacement siphons thank you very much...we went on holiday on that one
Rob Foster aka centralheatking
 
New posts

Reply to Continuous stream of water in waste pipe in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

Similar plumbing topics

P
Repeated Airlock in Bathroom
Hi, Can anyone advise as to why the cold water to my bathroom keeps airlocking? This originally happened about 12 months ago and has happened 3-4 times since. Itā€™s an upstairs bathroom, fed from a tank in the attic. The tank is about 8 Meters away and feeds a bath, sink and toilet. The tank...
Replies
9
Views
304
Chuck
C
sammie81116
Sewer pipe problems not sure about it
Hi all Noticed bad smell in my drain out side put my hand down and it unclogged it for now however I checked my sewer drain and after flushing my toilet a good few times nothing is going to the sewer so don't know is there a blockage or what way it works many thanks and advice would be grateful
Replies
3
Views
471
Chuck
C
T
22mm MDPE connection
I want to reconnect some outbuildings to an existing water supply. The supply pipe is old 22mm MDPE and buried for a fair distance so not going to dig it up and replace it šŸ˜¬. Question is can I use normal 22mm plumbing push-fit connectors to make the connection as finding 22mm MDPE fittings...
Replies
1
Views
253
ShaunCorbs
ShaunCorbs
C
How to identify dripping tap.
Our kitchen mixer tap has started dripping. Like so much of the plumbing in our almost new build bungalow, it is lacking! The plumber didn't install any isolating cocks in the H&C feed to the tap so how can I identify which of the valves is passing? Shut the whole H&C water system down?
Replies
12
Views
313
Timmy D
T
Stigster
Does anyone know the name of this model of Roca toilet?
Hi guys. I'm trying to identify a toilet model before ordering a seat for a customer. I went to what used to be a Roca stockist (they no longer are) and one of the guys there reckoned it might be "The Gap". I went to the new stockist and the guy there disagreed it was "The Gap" and that he'd...
Replies
2
Views
129
Stigster
Stigster
Creating content since 2001. Untold Media.

Newest Plumbing Threads

Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock