Macerating Toilets Legal or Illegal

Is it against code to install a Macerating Toilet

Wanting to add a existing bathroom to your basement or your slab home is a major expense and project.  Traditional plumbing methods will require you to break up your concrete slab to run the drain lines under the concrete to an ejector pit.  From the ejector pit the the ejector pump, pumps the waste into your main sewer line and out of your home.  Average cost's of the traditional ejector system can vary in price depending on your current plumbing system.

Macerating Toilets have praised for how compact and convenient and a money saver they are.  They give many people the peace of mind of completing their project.  Up Flush toilets are extremely easy to put in and many times they can be hooked up and ready for service within a day.  Another benefit  is the extremely portable, if you had a recent thought of moving the bathroom that is no big deal.  With the easy set up just run the existing pipe to the new location and you are ready to go.  Many of the faults in the toilets have been worked out of them over the years, now the technology is close to perfected with minimal issues.

So why don't people install these toilets everywhere?

A recent call to place a bid on re-plumbing a basement bathroom left the homeowner stressed and baffled when the village inspector said it all had to be redone.  The homeowner explained he had a licensed plumber install the toilet and he did not understand why it is not up to code.  I did not have a  very good answer for him.  The village inspector said that all macerating toilets are not code in Illinois.  After I made it  home later that night I combed over the Illinois state plumbing code I did not uncover any information on the toilets being outlawed.  After searching the internet endlessly I could not uncover any information on this.  So what I did find out later is that many villages have local in house codes against them.

Why you might ask?  

Is to keep people from completing the jobs them selves, hiring un-licensed under qualified people from working, and to make sure work is done properly the first time.  Many times we have to bite the bullet and obey the codes in our village.  If you hired a experienced licensed plumber he will know that you should not install a macerating toilet in your home.  Plumbing codes have developed over the years and in many states macerating toilets are widely accepted but in Illinois especially in cook county we hold the most stringent building codes in the nation.  With that being said we must obey our state and local building codes.

So is it code to install a Up Flush system in your home?

The simple answer is check with your local plumbing inspector at your village hall.


So what will happen if I install this system in my home anyway?

If you ever plan on selling your home the inspector, if he notices, will make you take out the system and hard pipe it the right way.  The typical macerating system has a 1.5" vent line when all residential plumbing requires a 2" vent to your main vent stack which needs to be at least a 3" line.  So in addition to breaking up the concrete and running the drain pipes under your foundation to an ejector pit, you will need to take out the 1.5" vent pipe and replace it with 2".

Many times you will loose value to your home which you thought you added by adding the additional bathroom or you will spend the extra money if feasible to run the new plumbing for your bathroom.  Many people find it more cost effective at that point in order to sell there home they will remove there bathroom.  But a skilled licensed plumbing company can complete the whole job with in 2 days.

Hope you have the best of luck on your new bathroom addition, if you are located in the south suburbs of Chicago, IL you can check out www.RCSzaboPlumbing.com