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What I have in my basement could loosely be called a drain. It doesn't have a pipe. Best I can tell, they just cut a 3 inch hole in the floor; all you see is the rocks under the floor.

I've been draining the dehumidifier into this but I wonder if it's really that great of an idea. Before I did that, I would get a good 2 gallons every day. That seems like a lot of water to be putting down that hole. Am I making the dehumidifier work harder by keeping the water around? Is that water just re-evaporating back into the basement?

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    some of the water will re-evaporate, but i suspect most will drain or seep away. you can tell by setting the dehumidifyer on a low humidity setting and timing the duty cycle: if it's on more when draining into the hole, then you are wasting power. If not, then you're likely fine.
    – dandavis
    Commented Jun 13, 2018 at 18:42

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The humidifier should be draining either to the outside - like rainwater, away from your house - or to a real sewer drain. I have a floor drain which actually connects into the main sewer pipe. It sounds like your drain does not, so I would not recommend draining into that hole.

Many people have a similar problem with the condensate drain from their central air conditioner. Those who don't have a drain below the condensate output have to put in a condensate pump to get the condensate to a drain or outside - and failure of those pumps can result in a flood.

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  • That's my thought too. What is the purpose of this "drain" then? Clearly it can handle some amount of water.
    – Matt Hughes
    Commented Jun 12, 2018 at 18:41
  • It sounds like it really does go down to beneath your foundation, so as long as the water table is lower than that, you can add water successfully. But it is rather strange and unless there is a really good reason for it, I would fill it with cement/concrete/etc.
    – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
    Commented Jun 12, 2018 at 18:47
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    I would probably use hydraulic cement if I was sealing a hole below grade. If there is no moisture from the slab I might continue using it for this drain. To see of there is moisture coming up through the slab tape at least 1 square foot or larger to the slab for 24 hours, when you pull the plastic if there is water on the plastic or the area that was under the plastic looks damp I would not be adding more moisture as this may be the source of some of the humidity.
    – Ed Beal
    Commented Jun 12, 2018 at 19:21
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    If this is newer construction, could this hole be a rough-in for a radon remediation system? In any case, they make condensate pumps (as mentioned by others) to pump this water out - you want it to end up away from the house and not under it.
    – Milwrdfan
    Commented Jun 12, 2018 at 21:05
  • Continual flowing water underground - Isn't that how sink holes form?
    – B540Glenn
    Commented Sep 13, 2018 at 17:58

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