Connecting your outdoor kitchen sink directly to the sewer line is often the go-to choice for many homeowners. It's ideal if your outdoor kitchen is close to your home's existing plumbing system.
If you tie the sink into the home's waste water system, you should be free to use a garbage disposal in the sink, and use the sink much as you would an indoor kitchen sink. Probably the most common solution to a remotely-located outdoor kitchen is to drain the sink into a French drain or a dry well.
Storm drains lead directly to local waters. No filters. No treatment. Pollutants that enter storm drains wind up in the water we drink, fish, and swim.
The drainpipe from your kitchen sink connects to the larger sewer line or wastewater plumbing system of your house. The sewer line carries all the wastewater from your home, including that from your kitchen sink, toilets, showers, and other drains, to the municipal sewer system or your private septic tank.
An overflow is an opening that helps prevent flooding by rerouting excess water back to the drain pipe once it reaches a certain level.
A traditional overflow drain is a hole cut inside the tub that connects to the overflow pipe. It directs excess water through the plumbing to the P-trap, where it moves down into the main drainpipe.
In a city, household drains connect to a larger pipe that carries wastewater into the city's underground collection system of sanitary sewers. As wastewater from homes, businesses and industries collects, sanitary sewer pipes get bigger and bigger as they near the wastewater plant.
An outdoor sink connects to either your home's water line or an outdoor spigot. If the location of your outdoor sink doesn't reach the water lines and pipes, you will need to contact a licensed plumber to extend them. There are also outdoor sink designs that connect to garden hose spigots.
Outside drains flush water from a home into the lateral drains in the road. Your home may have a kitchen drain mounted near the kitchen's outside wall, which is the usual culprit if you notice a blockage. Some homes also have a larger drain in a front garden that flushes wastewater from showers, baths and toilets.
Everything that goes down the kitchen, laundry and bathroom sink or that's flushed down the toilet ends up in the sewerage system.
Your home's sewer cleanout is a crucial part of your plumbing system. You'll usually find it outside, about 1 to 3 feet from where your house meets the ground. Look for a pipe sticking up with a cap on top that might have a square knob or notch for turning.
Blocked drain outside: DIY fix
If you're at all in doubt, call a professional plumber or drainage expert who will have the tools to unblock the drain quickly and efficiently. Don't attempt anything you're not sure about.
Storm drains are separate and distinct from sanitary sewer systems. The separation of storm sewers from sanitary sewers helps prevent sewage treatment plants becoming overwhelmed by infiltration/inflow during a rainstorm, which could discharge untreated sewage into the environment.
To drain an outdoor kitchen sink, install a direct sewer connection, dry well, French drain, or greywater system. Choose based on local codes, soil type, and water usage. Ensure proper slope for drainage and regular maintenance to prevent clogs and odors.
If you're willing to put in the effort, it's well worth the work and expenses. If you're willing to pay extra for a plumber, they're a great addition to any outdoor kitchen! They're very useful and convenient. You can absolutely put a sink outside!
The easiest way to find out where your surface water drains to is to look along the guttering and follow it around the house until you see a pipe that comes down the side of the house and goes directly into the ground.
Your local council may have plans of the drains beneath your house, which could include the drain layout. The council may be willing to extract these for you, but it depends on how old the house is and if they are still available.
Where does the water go after you flush the toilet or drain the sinks in your home? When the wastewater flushed from your toilet or drained from your household sinks, washing machine, or dishwasher leaves your home, it flows through your community's sanitary sewer system to a wastewater treatment facility.
Generally speaking, you're usually responsible for drains inside the boundaries of your property, while the sewerage company is responsible for lateral drains, which are usually outside of property boundaries, and sewers. Although most sewers are now publicly owned, there are still some private or unadopted sewers.
With your supply piping in place, run the piping through the house wall, going towards your outdoor kitchen, eventually going up through the base of the outdoor kitchen sink. Use thread adapters for connecting the supply pipe to the sink. You can also use plumber's putty if you want an even tighter seal.
So remember if you're connecting from the house then you will need a p-trap on the outdoor sink so that you don't inhale sewer gas from the house while cooking your favorite steak.
The importance of outdoor kitchen ventilation is often overlooked… But it's essential to the safety of your island.
Water that flows from the tap (or appliance lines) and swirls down the drain, with the help of gravity, is directed through a series of pipes that increase in size until connecting to the city's sewer main line.
Some of the most common outdoor drains include French drains, dry wells, catch basins, and trench drains.
Once you shower or bathe, the water that is used does not disappear – instead, it begins a journey through your home's plumbing. Different parts of the plumbing system must work together in order to deliver the used water away from your house and into a larger sewage system.