Shop drains

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   I have decided I would like drains in my auto shop.  My thought was to dig in a drain trough in each bay. Also on the out side of the shop I'd dig in a 1200 gallon plastic holding barrel/ Grey water tank/ skeptic tank. Menards has what I'm looking for it will not drain it is only to hold water so yes I understand I'll have to have it pumped probably once a year. 

So here comes my question. I do not want to cut a 4 inch hole in my block wall.  My thought was at the end of my drain troughs I would have a 30 gallon barrel with a sump pump in it raised up a bit as to not suck up the dirt.  

So the pump would push the water up and out through a 2 inch pipe and drain the water to my buried tank.  

What are your thoughts and how can I keep the sump pump up off the bottom of the 30 gallon barrel

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bobkyllo Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Orange Level Joined: 14 Sep 2009 Location: minnesota Points: 1564	Post Options Post Reply Quote bobkyllo Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Shop drains Posted: 24 Dec 2025 at 11:10pm
	I have decided I would like drains in my auto shop. My thought was to dig in a drain trough in each bay. Also on the out side of the shop I'd dig in a 1200 gallon plastic holding barrel/ Grey water tank/ skeptic tank. Menards has what I'm looking for it will not drain it is only to hold water so yes I understand I'll have to have it pumped probably once a year. So here comes my question. I do not want to cut a 4 inch hole in my block wall. My thought was at the end of my drain troughs I would have a 30 gallon barrel with a sump pump in it raised up a bit as to not suck up the dirt. So the pump would push the water up and out through a 2 inch pipe and drain the water to my buried tank. What are your thoughts and how can I keep the sump pump up off the bottom of the 30 gallon barrel

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WF owner Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Orange Level Joined: 12 May 2013 Location: Bombay NY Points: 5091	Post Options Post Reply Quote WF owner Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21 hours 50 minutes ago at 5:23am
	I have two sump pumps in the sump hole of me basement (in case one quits). I have two, 4" thick solid concrete blocks (side by side) in the bottom of the sump hole so only the primary works and the second one kicks on if the primary should fail. I would think you could use blocks to keep your sump off the bottom of the barrel. Another option would be to weld up a metal grate to fit in the bottom of the barrel, to keep it off the bottom.

Clay Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Orange Level Joined: 11 Sep 2009 Location: Udall, Kansas Points: 10164	Post Options Post Reply Quote Clay Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 19 hours 52 minutes ago at 7:21am
	Plastic milk crate.

DaveKamp Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Orange Level Access Joined: 12 Apr 2010 Location: LeClaire, Ia Points: 6109	Post Options Post Reply Quote DaveKamp Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 6 hours 59 minutes ago at 8:14pm
	Bob, I've been contemplating this for my upcoming shop build, too... and here's what I've decided... First, my drains will come into a staged separator... the initial sump won't have the pump, it'll have a bottom with a removable dirt bucket that is below floor level. Anything that comes out of the pipe that is heavy, will drop out of the pipe, into the bucket. The bucket will overflow, fill the sump, and then rise over a wier into the separator, which will have an outlet at the bottom leading into another chamber that has a wier up high. On the top of this same, will be either a disc or belt-type oil skimmer to pull off tramp oil, while the low exit will prevent oil from being able to flow out, as it'll be trapped on TOP. The secondary wier will keep the water elevation high enough, and being on the back side of the oil skimmer's wall, only water will get through to go out to the catch tank. I'll have two stages to maintain- one is the dirt bucket, the other will be the oil skimmer. Any oil will go to a recovery tank, which will become feedstock for waste oil burner. Dirt in the bucket will go in a steel pan that gets set in the fire as well, so anything bad will get incinerated, leaving just plain old dirt.
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steve(ill) Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Orange Level Access Joined: 11 Sep 2009 Location: illinois Points: 89270	Post Options Post Reply Quote steve(ill) Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 6 hours 20 minutes ago at 8:53pm
	if you dont have a tile field after the tank, to get rid of the water... i would dig the hole twice as big as the tank and dump a load of clean gravel in half the hole... let a good portion of the water over flow and soak into the ground or evaporate.
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Coke-in-MN Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Orange Level Access Joined: 12 Sep 2009 Location: Afton MN Points: 42106	Post Options Post Reply Quote Coke-in-MN Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 1 hour 42 minutes ago at 1:31am
	Shop drains are on EPA hit list if any chance of drippings from vehicles should reach the floor . That is if any discharge from drains reaches soil . Seems a holding tank (sealed) is only option with proper disposal method for tank content . Local fire dept built addition onto station and ran into problems with drains in both old and new section . Had to put in holding tank for new section and plug drains in old area , or tear up floor to direct those to new tank . Shop drains are classified as Type 5 injection wells classification . Daylight surface discharge is a separate classification and can be allowed in certain uses . It's not just oil but antifreeze and other fluids that might come from vehicles or work on them . WASH BAY require a separate disposal system of separation and retention along with disposal . In MN the MPCA gets real crazy on the drains , seems they want to control any discharge of any type from all buildings . Even a privy has special MPCA rules now Edited by Coke-in-MN - 1 hour 39 minutes ago at 1:34am
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