Drain tile system

I have another question on my drain tile system, it was installed 5-10 years ago on the 50’s house before I bought it.

I have been reading that the cover should be air tight, although mine has a 2-3″ hole in the top of it. I assume that is for an exhaust pipe? Is an exhaust pipe needed, or can I just plug that hole with something?

The 2″ pipe that is there now runs up the wall to remove the water from the sump.

If it is drain tile there is no need for a vent. Maybe the tank was meant for a lift station. You do want to make sure the cover is secured in place. This is to prevent kids from ever falling in. No need for drain tile to be air tight. Sewer lift station you will know if it is not air tight by th e smell.

Thanks for the info. No sewer attached to this, just drain tile around the perimeter of the foundation. It’s secure down….so no issues there.

Maybe it was because of radon that some of the stuff I read said to have it sealed?

We will be moving our bedroom to the basement….not sure how prevalent radon gas is…..guess maybe I should buy a test kit.

Hadn’t thought of a radon gas issue. There is nothing in the plumbing code that addresses this issue. A gas kit may be a good idea.

If you perform the Radon test and are motivated to put a fan onto it, the lid is sealed to the concrete and the fan will constantly run to pull a slight vacuum below the concrete. A friend that did this told me that the vent pipe will load up with ice in our sub-zero weather up north, so you will need to watch that as well.

If there is a sump in this hole already it makes no difference that it is sealed. However, you would need to make sure that the bottom of the sump does not have any gravel that might bind up the pump as I had a friend that had is basement flooded when the sump was disabled.

Typically the second hole or knock-out is for the radon gas abatement. As stated above, an active abatement system uses a fan to continuallydraw air (gases) out from beneath the slab and from the drain tile to exit through the second pipe – Usually extended above the roof line. The second method is passive. That is a 2″ pipe extended up and normally exiting through the rim plate. In both cases the crock lid is caulked air tight. Thus, a sealed system. Both MN and WI are known to have areas of higher concentrations of radon gas. Since it is such an isolated case, plumbing codes don’t currently cover the issues very well. Most builder’s will lobby agaisnt a mandated code since it adds additional cost to a home to build and too many builders want the cheapest way out.