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

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

wrote in message
oups.com...
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

Aren't there undercounter airgap devices you can use? I think that is what
the plastic device does under my sink's countertop.


wrote in message
oups.com...
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

On 2007-03-22, 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 believe there are accessory faucets available with an integrated
dishwasher air gap, e.g. http://www.waterinc.com/water_gap.htm.

Cheers, Wayne

In article .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". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

wrote in message
oups.com...
I am thinking of removing the air
gap and draining the dishwasher straight into the garbage disposal. Is
this a good or bad idea.


In two different houses, four different machines over the past 35+ years and
it was always direct into the disposal. Has never been a problem.

In article , "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:

wrote in message
roups.com...
I am thinking of removing the air
gap and draining the dishwasher straight into the garbage disposal. Is
this a good or bad idea.


In two different houses, four different machines over the past 35+ years and
it was always direct into the disposal. Has never been a problem.

Yeah, but folks violate electrical, plumbing and other codes
every day without a problem. Until there's a problem...

If the OP lives in CA (and some other places) there almost
certainly will be a problem when he comes to sell the
property. Almost any home inspector will catch that one
with a cursory glance at the sink.

Having said all that... I'd probably take the risk if it
wasn't a local code requirement here.

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

wrote in message
oups.com...
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.

Did that once and never again! There is a drain tube available for the
other side of the sink that has a tube for the dishwasher. This is a MUCH
better solution than hooking it up to the garbage disposal. We often had
the water backing up into the sink when hooked up to the garbage disposal,
but never after hooking it up to the main drain.

As far as the air gap, check local code.

Mike D.

I presently have the air gap tide up as high
as I can under the sink, but on occasion it does leak.

Dennis