dishwasher air gap

Posted by on March 22, 2007, 10:51 am

I have a thick cast iron sink and do not want to drill a new hole, but
I need to do something with my dishwasher "air gap" ( I am using the
fourth hole for my water purifier) I am thinking of removing the air
gap and draining the dishwasher straight into the garbage disposal. Is
this a good or bad idea. I presently have the air gap tide up as high
as I can under the sink, but on occasion it does leak.

Dennis

Posted by Speedy Jim on March 22, 2007, 11:15 am

dennisofnewport@yahoo.com wrote:

> I have a thick cast iron sink and do not want to drill a new hole, but
> I need to do something with my dishwasher "air gap" ( I am using the
> fourth hole for my water purifier) I am thinking of removing the air
> gap and draining the dishwasher straight into the garbage disposal. Is
> this a good or bad idea. I presently have the air gap tide up as high
> as I can under the sink, but on occasion it does leak.
>
> Dennis
>

Not recommended, not to Code, etc, etc.

Yes, drain direct to disposal, but make the
loop of hose go up as high as possible under
the counter. Clamp hose in place.

Jim

Posted by Tom G on March 22, 2007, 11:18 am

>I have a thick cast iron sink and do not want to drill a new hole, but
> I need to do something with my dishwasher "air gap" ( I am using the
> fourth hole for my water purifier) I am thinking of removing the air
> gap and draining the dishwasher straight into the garbage disposal. Is
> this a good or bad idea. I presently have the air gap tide up as high
> as I can under the sink, but on occasion it does leak.
> Dennis

Sold dishwashers in Northern Illinois and also the Phoenix, AZ. area. The
only community that I've known to require air gap devices was Tempe, AZ.
Just be sure to loop the dishwasher drain hose up as high as possible under
the sink cabinet before coming down and connecting to the disposal. You
don't want the loop to be lower than the highest possible water level in the
sink to prevent sink water running into the dishwasher in addition to down
the drain.

Tom G

Posted by Wayne Whitney on March 22, 2007, 12:21 pm

> I have a thick cast iron sink and do not want to drill a new hole,
> but I need to do something with my dishwasher "air gap" ( I am using
> the fourth hole for my water purifier)

I believe there are accessory faucets available with an integrated

dishwasher air gap, e.g. <http://www.waterinc.com/water_gap.htm>.

Cheers, Wayne

Posted by Malcolm Hoar on March 22, 2007, 12:22 pm

dennisofnewport@yahoo.com wrote:

>I have a thick cast iron sink and do not want to drill a new hole, but
>I need to do something with my dishwasher "air gap" ( I am using the
>fourth hole for my water purifier) I am thinking of removing the air
>gap and draining the dishwasher straight into the garbage disposal. Is
>this a good or bad idea. I presently have the air gap tide up as high
>as I can under the sink, but on occasion it does leak.

Several things to consider:

1. Check if the air gap is required by code in your city.
They are in CA, for example. Not in many other states.

2. Even if required by code, there may be exceptions for
dishwashers built with a suitable backflow prevention
device. It may be a pain getting an inspector to sign
off however.

3. If the sink/dishwasher are installed on an outside
wall, there are some through-the-wall air gaps
available, sometimes called a "Johnson Tee". It's
a neat solution although finding parts and installing
them may prove a pain. I might have gone this route
but for the fact my sink backs onto an inside wall.

4. An improperly installed air gap (like your current
setup) is probably worse than no air gap at all,
especially if your dishwasher has a backflow device.
If the air gap is leaking, cleaning it may help --
they tend to leak when partially blocked.

5. Otherwise, just loop the hose as high as you possibly
can under the cabinet and dispose of the air gap
entirely. Again, that's safer if your dishwasher
has the backflow prevention.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| malch@malch.com Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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