Whats a Discharge Pump For a Pedicure Chair – Pros & Cons
A Discharge Pump is used to pump and move dirty water from a Pedicure Chair to a drain point that is above ground level.
Discharge pumps are also known as Drain Pumps, both terms can be used interchangeably.
When & Why Do You Need a Discharge Pump
1- The Draining Area For the WasteWater Is Above Ground Level
Once the place where the water is drained at, is above ground level, even if it’s just slightly higher than your floor, you would need a pump to push the water against the force of gravity.
Without a pump, the water won’t drain properly instead it would just back up and make a mess.
Now if the drain is at ground level you wouldn’t need a pump since gravity is working in your favor.
2- Lack of Floor Drains
Without floor drains you are gonna need a discharge pump to push the dirty water to a draining area like a sink.
Most salons usually have floor drains found at each of the pedicure chairs, either running through the salon’s floor or at the wall behind the chairs.
Floor drains allow the dirty water from the pedicure chairs to be drained away safely.
These drains should be properly installed by a certified plumber before you set up shop.
Now if for some reason your salon doesn’t have these floor drains this maybe due:
- Restrictions from your salon’s building code.
- the general design of your building doesn’t make it possible to have floor drains.
- You are just trying to cut your initial starting cost, installing floor drains can be pricey.
3- BackFlow of Dirty Water (Due To Badly Built Drains)
Even if you do have floor drains sometimes what happens is that the wastewater from your pedicure chair backs up and flows backward.
This can be very embarrassing imagine how bad this would look if you are attending to clients and all of a sudden your salon’s floor looks like a small lake.
If this has happened to you, you should definitely consider investing in a drain pump.
The main cause of backflow is based on how the drains are dug into the ground.
A smart plumber knows that the drains need to be sloped downwards to work with gravity.
4- OverCapacity (Too Much Water)
A high traffic salon can create a large amount of wastewater sometimes exceeding the capacity of your drainage system.
It is important to remember that too much water can easily overwhelm your drainage system thus causing a backflow of wastewater.
I have heard of horror stories of salons that are operating at peak capacity and making tons of wastewater that quickly overwhelm the floor drains and caused a backflow.
This happens more frequently because of poorly constructed drains.
Discharge Pumps prevent this from happening by forcing the water through the drains regardless of how the drains are and the quantity of water.
How a Discharge Pump Works
A Discharge Pump uses an electric motor to add force to the wastewater allowing it to circumvent gravity.
How to get a Discharge Pump for a Pedicure Chair
I would advocate buying a pedicure chair with a preinstalled pump, by doing so it reduces the stress of having to get the pump installed.
By having the pumps preinstalled means that they would work seamlessly with your chair.
Pedicure chairs that come with pumps tend to be more expensive than chairs that have no pumps.
But they are worth it.
Now if you are unfortunate to have a pedicure chair without a pump and want one you are going to have to buy and install one.
Recommended Discharge Pump
I recommend the Discharge Pump made by Pedicure Chair Plus.
This pump requires very little assembly and should be able to work with most chairs.
Amazon usually has them at great prices, you can Click to see the price of The Discharge Pump. 
This pump can push water to a height of 4 feet.
Things You Should Do Before Installing Your Pump
1- Read Your Pedi Chair’s Warranty and Manual
Before buying a pump you need to know the fine prints of your warranty if you do something that’s against your warranty you can void it.
What you should look for in your warranty;
- The Type of Pump That Can Be Used: Some brands of Pedi Chairs only allow for their pump to be used and if you use another you can lose your warranty.
- How To Install: I have seen various warranties stipulate exactly how the pump and chair are to be installed.
- A lot of warranties even specifies the type of certified plumber that you need to do the installation.
2- Know Your Measurements
When reading the manual for your chair you should discern the various measurements for different parts and pipes, so when you are buying the PVC pipes you can know exactly what size you need.
Should I Install a Discharge Pump By Myself
Yes, you can but I would advise if you can afford it to get a licensed plumber to do the installation.
A plumber would do a much neater job with a reduced chance of having problems during installation. Plus if you spend a bit of money he can even install a switch for you.
How to Install the Pump on My Pedicure Chair
Different Chairs will have different setups but I found a video that might be able to help you see below.
But the key to installing your pump is to read the manual for your pedicure chair before attempting it.
