Sewer & Drain · Nashville, TN
Grinder Pump Installation in Nashville
A grinder pump and basin for a house that sits below the sewer main, wired with a high-water alarm.
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Grinder Pump Installation in Nashville, Tennessee
A grinder pump and basin for a house that sits below the sewer main, wired with a high-water alarm.
For grinder pump installation, Nashville's Sewer and Drain works across Middle Tennessee — licensed, insured, with the price in writing before the work starts. Drain and sewer crews who clear the stoppage first, then put a camera down the line and show you what caused it.
Why homeowners call
Signs that bring people to us for this
- Sewage coming up a floor drain
- Every drain in the house slow at once
- Gurgling toilet when the washer drains
- Sewer smell in the yard or basement
- A soggy, sunken strip over the sewer line
- Roots back in the line every year
- Sump pump running and running
What is included
What our grinder pump installation work includes
- Basin set below the house drain outlet
- Grinder pump sized for the lift and the run
- Small-diameter pressure line run to the main
- Check valve and shutoff on the discharge
- Dedicated electrical circuit for the pump
- High-water alarm on a separate circuit
- Alarm tested and explained to the household
- Basin lid set at grade and secured
How Grinder Pump Installation goes, from cleanout to final pass
A house that sits lower than the public sewer can’t drain to it by gravity. A grinder pump solves that: everything from the house drains into a buried basin, the pump grinds the solids into a slurry and pushes it uphill through a pressure line, often only an inch and a quarter across, into the main.
Residential grinder pumps come as centrifugal units, commonly around two horsepower, and semi-positive displacement units of about one horsepower, which hold a steady flow against high pressure. Which one fits depends on how far away and how far uphill the main is, and on what the sewer utility allows on its system.
The high-water alarm is the part that saves the house. It sounds and lights when the basin rises past the pump’s normal range, which means the pump has stopped or can’t keep up. The basin holds a limited reserve, and once it is full, wastewater has nowhere to go but back into the house, so the alarm means stop using water.
Grinders handle ordinary household waste well. Wipes, including the ones labeled flushable, grease, dental floss and cat litter shorten their lives and cause most jams. During a power outage the pump can’t run at all, so water use should drop to a minimum until the power comes back.
Also available
Other sewer, drain and septic work
Septic Services
Tanks, fields and grinder pumps for homes off the city sewer or sitting below it, from the first inspection to a new system.
Learn moreSeptic Inspection
The tank opened, its levels and baffles checked and the field walked, for a sale or because the yard has started to smell.
Learn moreSeptic System Installation
A new tank and field laid out to the soil and the state or county permit, sized for the bedrooms in the house.
Learn moreSeptic Repair
Broken baffles, cracked lids, crushed lines and saturated field lines repaired once the cause is known.
Learn moreService area
Sewer and drain calls we take across Middle Tennessee
Our trucks reach Nashville and 100 more towns in 12 counties, and we take sewer and septic calls anywhere within about an hour of the city.
FAQ
Grinder Pump Installation: what people ask first
Do I need a grinder pump or a sewage ejector pump?
A grinder pump when the waste has to travel a long way or uphill through a small pressure line to the main, and an ejector when a basement bathroom only needs lifting a few feet into the house’s own gravity drain. Ejectors pass solids up to about two inches through a larger pipe, while grinders chop them so a small line won’t clog.
What happens to a grinder pump when the power goes out?
It stops, and the basin starts filling with whatever the house drains into it. The basin holds a limited reserve, so during an outage cut back to essential flushing and skip laundry, dishes and long showers. When the power returns, the pump empties the basin on its own. Frequent long outages are a reason to consider a generator connection.
What should never go down the drain with a grinder pump?
Wipes of any kind, grease and cooking oil, dental floss, feminine products, cat litter, rags and anything plastic. A grinder handles toilet paper and ordinary household waste, but stringy and fibrous material wraps the cutter, and grease coats the floats and level sensors. These are the usual causes of a jammed or failed grinder.
What does it mean when a grinder pump alarm goes off?
It means the water in the basin has risen above where the pump should have turned on, so the pump has stopped, jammed or can’t keep up. Silence the alarm, stop using water in the house, and check whether the pump’s breaker has tripped. If the breaker is fine, leave the basin closed and call for service.
Free estimate
Book grinder pump installation with our crew
Call or write to Nashville's Sewer and Drain with what the drains are doing; we clear the line first and price any repair from the camera footage.