Exterior Basement Sewer Termination for Flood Protection

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing solutions for preventing basement flooding from sewer backups, such as backwater valves and sump pumps, often fail due to improper installation or maintenance, and the termination of sewer connections within buildings leaves them vulnerable to sewage backups during overwhelming municipal sewer events.

Innovation Solution

The system disconnects and reroutes sanitary and storm sewer connections from inside the building to above-ground termination points outside, using sewage and sump pumps with float-activated systems to automatically manage effluent discharge, ensuring no sewer lines terminate within the building, thereby preventing backups.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If backwater valves or sump pumps are installed to prevent basement flooding, then basement flood protection is improved, but the system reliability deteriorates due to improper installation or maintenance causing device failure

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebasement flood protectionVSAvoiddevice maintenance

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the vulnerable sewer connection termination from the building interior and relocates it to the exterior above ground level. By removing the termination point from inside the building, the system eliminates the need for backwater valves and sump pumps that require installation and maintenance, while still providing flood protection through proper exterior discharge routing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Ease of operation

If sewer connections are terminated within the building to facilitate drainage, then drainage functionality is improved, but the building becomes vulnerable to sewage backups during municipal sewer overflows

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedrainage functionalityVSAvoidsewage backup risk

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent removes the sewer line termination from the building interior and relocates it to the exterior above ground level. This extraction eliminates the direct connection between municipal sewer overflows and the building interior, preventing sewage backups while maintaining drainage functionality through the exterior discharge system.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the spatial dimension of sewer termination from horizontal (within the building basement) to vertical (above ground level on the exterior). By elevating the termination point above the potential backup level and relocating it outside the building envelope, the system prevents harmful sewer overflow intrusion while maintaining drainage capability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

3Quantity of substance

If municipal sewer infrastructure is upgraded to accommodate increased development, then sewer capacity is improved, but aging infrastructure and inadequate sizing in older areas continue to cause overflows

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesewer capacityVSAvoidsewer system performance

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of attempting to upgrade the municipal sewer infrastructure to prevent overflows, the patent inverts the approach by making the building independent of the municipal sewer system during overflow events. The building discharges to the municipal sewer under normal conditions but provides an alternative exterior discharge path when the municipal system is overwhelmed, effectively protecting against infrastructure capacity limitations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

This approach effectively eliminates the risk of sewage backups by ensuring all wastewater and sewage are discharged outside the building, reducing the likelihood of flooding and maintaining operational integrity even during severe weather events or power outages.

Implementation Method 1

A float activator arm with a buoyant ball positioned in the sewage basin is arranged to automatically activate and deactivate the sewage pump

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectBuoyancy: Archimedes' Principle (Buoyancy)

Data Source

PatentUS10837165B2System to prevent basement flooding from sewer backup

Publication Date: 2020.11.17 BRANT RONALD A

AI summary

The invention relates to a building basement flood control system that eliminates termination of sanitary and storm sewer lines within a building. The control system includes a sanitary sewage basin system and a storm water sump pit installed in the basement floor. A sewage pump in the sewage basin pumps sewage through a discharge pipe extending to the exterior of the basement wall for discharge into an open end of an above ground vertical sanitary sewer line adjacent an exterior basement wall. The control system further includes a storm water sump pit installed in the basement floor. A sump pump in the sump pit pumps storm water through a discharge pipe extending to the exterior of the basement wall for discharge into an open end of an above ground vertical storm sewer line adjacent the exterior basement wall.