Project Location: Cornwall, UK
Requirements: Pumping Waste Water from a heavily used Washing Machine in a domestic basement
Date: February 2015

Wastewater Pump runs perfectly for 9 Years without any maintenance proving it’s worth investing in quality.

In 2006 when I bought a wastewater pumping system for pumping water from my washing machine, newly located in our basement I decided to pay a few extra pounds for it in the belief that you get what you pay for. What a wise investment that turned out to be. After considerable research I chose a DrainMinor from Pump Technology Ltd. I discovered that companies like M&S and other major, commercial organisations fitted Drain Minor / Drain Major wastewater pumping systems in their stores, so I felt this would provide me with a robust and reliable solution.

Although most people really know that they “should” maintain a pump, which after all is a mechanically rotating machine that will eventually need some TLC, the vast majority never quite get round to it. Our washing machine has been used to the point of destruction, recycling washable nappies for many years, and in our family it seems everything is worn only once and then washed, at least we can say we are clean.

However, after nine years I felt I better have a look – I don’t really want to be waiting for a plumber or a replacement pump whilst my work shirts are stuck half washed in the machine. So I decide to pull it out and investigate how the pump was holding up.
When I bought the DrainMinor the engineer at Pump Technology Ltd helped me to select the correct size unit and told me that the only maintenance required would be to occasionally inspect the small collecting tank and remove any unwanted build-up of fluff, hair etc.

After turning off the power and donning my rubber gloves, I delved in. With hindsight I think I could have made life simpler by reading the instructions, but everything was relatively obvious!

• After removing the lid (four simple clips) I found one drain connection inside the tank. Once
  I had undone this it was easy to remove the Pump.
• A sweep round the tank by hand removed the sludge and detritus that had collected over
  the nine years. Next I washed it out to make sure it was clean.
• I then re-installed and re-connected the pump (I like the fact that the connection was inside
  the tank so that the pipe connections from the tank remained undisturbed and water tight!)
• With the lid still off I watched the first flush of water to confirm all was ok
• Finally I replaced the lid and clipped it back into place before celebrating with a cup of tea