Re: Choosing a sump pump

Good questions and points, CL. Thanks for your post.

The person who told me I have no drain tile is the person who busted
through the basement floor by the footer and dug looking for them. I
was right there watching him. There were no tiles. Yes, it is the
same guy who is going to install the tiles.

Regarding the flow rate, I don't have flow (that I know of anyhow)
unless rain is heavy enough to come in the basement. That rarely
happens (about once every two years) but when it does happen it makes a
mess and is a real pain. A lot of houses on my street do not have
sumps or tiles, and I think the theory when they were built was that
the area has enough rock and sand that water will just flow through
into the "depths of the earth" without causing a problem in basements.
The county that I live in has many quarrys--if I wanted to put in a
flagstone walk, I could literally get my material by digging it out of
the back yard. I wouldn't be the first in the area to do that, either.

The back up pump comes without a battery. I bought the battery and
acid at Home Depot. You add the acid to the battery when you are ready
to install the battery, so (per the advertising on the box) your
battery is fresh when you install it and there is no risk of it being
old and weak when you bring it home. Plus, the backup system has a
battery monitor so if the battery is low or can't hold a charge or has
corroded terminals or is connected wrong, it will let you know. I know
this is not foolproof and the diagnostics can possibly be faulty, but I
think it is better than no diagnostics and finding out you have a
problem when you need the back up pump to kick in and it can't or
won't.

I did not consider the water powered pump very seriously as they didn't
sound like they could handle much water. I am dealing with some
unknowns here. A water powered one might be perfectly adequate, but
then again maybe not. I'd rather not lie awake rainy nights worrying
about it. I know the battery powered pump is not 100% perfect, but it
seemed to be a better choice. Unless I want to take the belt and
suspenders approach and make a water powered pump the THIRD pump.
Hmmmm.

We have a sanitary sewer that we are not permitted to drain the sump
into. The only way to drain into the storm sewer is to pump the water
outside (via the sump pump) and let it find its way to the gutter and
then it goes on its merry way to the storm sewer.



CL (dnoyeB) Gilbert wrote:
>
> First issue is who told you that you dont have drain tiles? I hope it
> wasn't the same company that sells the tile systems? If so you should
> get a different company to evaluate that.
>
> Second, you wont know what pump you need until you see your flow rate,
> and that will really take about a month to be sure. Sounds like you got
> a good pump but I doubt 3/4 hp will be all that silent. You may get
> away with a smaller one. Personally I got a 1/2 hp Wayne from Lowes,
> and my pump is on about every 4 minutes, emptying the pit. Lifting the
> water about 12 feet, and dumping it outside. This thing is beefy and
> more than does the job. but i got sand and mud occasionally so i wanted
> to be safe. But personally I would go back and get a 1/4 hp if I could
> as its kind of loud. I actually got it because it was the only one with
> a Lifetime warranty, and the one I had lived only 2 years before it gave
> up the ghost...
>
> Also, your backup sump from ebay probably has a dead battery. Most
> battery operated things on ebay come with dead batteries, and the
> battery is 1/2 the cost usually...Anyway, did you consider the water
> powered sump pump? Our backup is powered by the municipal water system.
>
>
> are you familiar with local ordinance? do you have a storm sewer that
> you can let the water drain into?
>
> --
> Respectfully,
>
>
> CL Gilbert

.

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