Too Much Water Flowing To Sump Pump Pit?

7 years ago

I'm a first-time home-owner in Nashville. Our sump pump burned out during a storm earlier this fall and flooded our unfinished basement. I replaced it with a new, heavier duty pump.

But during a similar storm earlier this week, I noticed how hard the sump pump was working to keep up. I'd say our sump pit holds approx 30 gallons of water, and the pump was having to switch on every 30 seconds or so to drain it (see video). That seems like a lot. It worries me that it will only be a short time before this new one burns out too and floods our basement again.

Anyone have info on how much water should typically be flowing into our pit? Is this normal?

Best,

Josh

Featured Answer

Bruce in Northern Virginia

7 years ago

Your video shows a lot of water running into the sump. How often does it catch that much water? Running like that for a day or two when its raining will not burn out a pump, but it might not tolerate that rate of water for an extended period.

My sump pump runs about every 10-15 minutes when its raining hard, and usually keeps going at that rate for about a day afterward. I have a primary pump for that purpose, and have installed a backup pump in the same well, which will run off AC power or switch to battery power if needed. The float on the backup pump is set so that it will only run if the primary fails and lets the water get too high.

Both of my pumps have check valves, and then run into a Y fitting and a single outlet. In retrospect, I should have made it two separate pipes through the wall, just in case the primary line was plugged due to ice or other problems with the drain.

Also verify that the pump exit pipe is moving water far enough away and down slope from your house so you aren't pumping the same water multiple times.

Bruce

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Comments (9)

User
7 years ago
There is no normal. You may want to research: gutters and drain pipe, French drain. They are often used to mitigate basement water issues.

I have seen dual pumps used in larger sumps.
Josh Frigo thanked User
klem1
7 years ago
Get someone that know's what they are doing before the place flood's again. I didn't see the sump empty in the video plus it appear's water is leaking from line back into sump.
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GN Builders L.L.C
7 years ago
It depends on the pump you have, size of discharge pipe, do you have a back-flow prevention installed etc.

I would get a Zoeller 1/2 HP high capacity sump pump with 1-1/2" discharge and install back-flow prevention device.
User
7 years ago
I’m in Pennsylvania ( famous for floods) and my sump pump can go months without turning on, but when we do get heavy rain (1-2 inches) the sump pump will turn on as often as every minute. However, mine empties almost to the bottom of the pit, where I don’t see yours emptying much at all. I just looked, and I have the Zoeller model mentioned above.

I also got new, larger, gutters and downspouts a few months ago, and I think that has helped, too.
Josh Frigo
Original Author
7 years ago
@Bruce. We've been in the house three months and I've seen that much water come in twice. On a similar time table to the situation you described.
Nancy R z5 Chicagoland
7 years ago
I had a lot of sump pump problems when I was a new homeowner too. if you haven't already done this, have your sewer line rodded and make sure the water is flowing properly and there are no leaks where the clay pipe meets the cast iron pipe that goes through your foundation. Have them go through it with a camera so you can see exactly what's going on. Downspouts and gutters have to be clear and like someone said check the way the water is draining out of them and make sure that the ground is sloped properly away from your house. when I moved in, some of the downspouts were blocked with debris and mud and over the years too much mulch and stuff had built up in the shrub Beds which was interfering with proper drainage away from the house. you may want to have extensions put on the downspouts or an underground drain installed that takes the downspout water further away from the house.
Bruce in Northern Virginia
7 years ago
If you are on the East Coast or other area with really crazy rainy weather this year you should also remember that this is not normal. I've lived in my house six years, and this is the only time I've had standing water in my yard for several days. In the early summer we ran about 50 feet of new underground perforated pipe back and forth across the yard for the sump pump "drain field" this year, and even that filled up completely and we had visible standing water in the yard. However, at least it was far enough out into the yard so that it did not come back toward the basement.

Bruce
Thomas Beaulieu
6 years ago
Check if you have a check valve willl stop the water coming back down the pipe