Sewage that cannot drain by gravity
Sewer ejector pumps in Aurora
An ejector or grinder pump lifts wastewater from fixtures that sit too low to reach the sewer by gravity. It is sewage equipment. A sump pump in a groundwater basin is the other machine.
When you actually need one
A basement bath, a low laundry, or a fixture added below the building drain needs a pump if the pipe cannot fall toward the sewer. Littleton's code says that when a structure sits too low for gravity, the owner installs and maintains the lifting facility. Aurora's pages used here do not publish a separate ejector ordinance, so do not pretend they do. The practical test is the elevation: if the new toilet is below the line leaving the house, gravity will not do the job. That shows up in remodels.
The basin, the pump, the vent, and the check valve are the scope. What it discharges to is the building drain and then the sewer, not the yard like a sump. Lakewood tells its city-sewer customers never to tie a sump into the sewer. An ejector is the device that is supposed to send sewage into the sanitary line. Do not swap the names on the invoice.
Failures
A pump that runs and does not empty, an alarm, or sewage at a low floor drain can be a failed pump, a stuck float, or a check valve. It can also be a clogged service line downstream, which no new pump will fix. If upstairs fixtures drain and only the basement comes back, look at the pump. If the whole building backs up, look at the lateral. In Aurora that lateral is yours to the tap.
Electrical connections and alarms are not described here. Ask who services them.
Questions to settle first
Is an ejector a sump pump?
No. A sump moves groundwater and should not tie into the sanitary sewer. An ejector moves sewage from fixtures that are too low for gravity, into the sanitary drain. The basins are not interchangeable. A quote that uses one word for both is unclear.
The basement toilet backs up but upstairs is fine.
That pattern fits the ejector or the short run from those fixtures, more than the street lateral. If every floor backs up, stop and camera the service line. In Aurora you maintain that line to the tap. A new pump will not open a collapsed lateral.
Who maintains it?
You do, once it is on the property. Littleton's code says the owner keeps the lift facility when gravity will not reach the public sewer. Aurora does not need a copied sentence to make the same practical point: the city main is not the basin in your floor.
Does this need a permit?
Adding a bathroom that needs a pump is remodel plumbing, and permitted work in Aurora is inspected before it is covered. Replacing a failed pump in an existing basin may be a repair. Ask the building department which one this is before the floor is closed.
