"baby wipes" out sump pump

[PLUMBER RICK]

made you look

had a customer call, complains of a smell in their guest house. it's only 2 years old so i ask a few questions. turns out that the rear guest house is on a sewer ejector pump. i asked them to see if the water is overflowing the outside pit. no, but it's close to the top

check the outlet. gfi is dead run an extension cord to see if it will pump out. nope, dead.

ok, i'll bring a new pump with me.

so i check the illegal sump pit. it's not even vented. had a hard time pulling the pump as the 3 abs pipes are blocking the path of the pump to be removed. i finally forced it out of the pit.

turned it over and started to pull out a pile of baby wipes all jammed around the pump impeller.

managed to get the pump running as it blew the gfi and saved the pumps thermal switch.

put it all back together and tested it out. ok

showed the owner the pile and she was not surprised. i spoke to their 6 year old son and he spilled the beans like balloon boy but told me they're in the basement in plastic bags.

rick.



zoller 2'' ejector pump. after i pulled the wipes out




this is the pile i pulled from inside the pump impeller. those are 10'' #430 channelocks



a real tight fit getting the pump in and out. 3'' toilet discharge and 2 discharge into pit. 2'' out to sewer. no vent and they tried to glue, silicone the pipe penetrations. a real mess.

[Swade Plumbing]

Yikes! What a mess! That pit looks like one of the "what's wrong with this picture" games from magazines.

At least you were able to salvage the pump!

Nice job Plumber Rick

[DanLawrence]

So the channel locks where in the pit?

[Jerad]

i have the same channel locks.






hold on......





i just checked those are my channel locks!

[DUNBAR]

I use those foam pads all the time as well. I need to cut the design off that meshes them together because it looks like I'm dropping foam peanuts.


I worked for a guy that changed his tune immediately when he went from angry his sewage ejector stopped working and I was last to touch it, to "Oh nice plumber I didn't know oh can I get you a pop/something to eat/back massage from my wife" kinda way.

That pump I installed was now jammed up with at least 70 of those wipes.

Now I'm charging, a lot. << Emergency call that started out with attitude? I'm chargin'.

I was nice, considerate though; I had him flush that line out leading to the pit about 40 times which discovered the rest of those wipes. If I would of zipped my mouth shut it would of been a repeat call.


He dumped his fiance' almost 4 months later after that. He's kept his current companion now for 5 years. Good job! and no pump failures either!

[jhplumbing]

I bet you did not even use rubber gloves.

[Gene Bickford]

YUM< YUM< YUM, looks like a big ol' pot o' poop soup

[toolaholic]

Rick , I hope You charged well.That's the extreme!

[PLUMBER RICK]

my billing is based on the time i worked on it. so the bill is the same weather i am digging, working with the poo or thinking

last week while i was on the plane, i was watching t.v and still getting paid for travel

rick.

[JCsPlumbing]

Had the same thing happen with "feminine items".

Also found a 4' blacksnake while working on it.

J.C.