trying to learn more about sump pump. Please help!

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hochoi

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Hi,

I have 2 sump pumps in my basement. I notice that if I turn off both, the water is still not getting into the basement. The water level is about 5 in. below the basement but the drain pipes leading the water into these sump pumps are both submerge under the water. Is that a problem?

hochoi
 

Jadnashua

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The water table rises and falls with the seasons and depends on how much precipitation you've had. If the water isn't rising, it's because the water table isn't high at the moment. You can get some localized rises if your landscaping isn't great and the runoff accumulates around the house. There's no reason to try to pump what's there out unless it rises, plus, it may be totally impossible - like trying to drain a lake. The submersible pumps require a certain amount of water pressure to turn them on (caused by the height of the water in the well). If you wanted them to turn on, you'd have to lower them, or their control. On some, it's internal, on others, it's a user adjustable float.

If they don't come on when the water rises, it's one of three things: no power, bad pump, bad switch.
 

hochoi

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Thanks, Jim.

I understand the fact that at the moment, the water level is not getting higher because there is not much rain. Thus, my question is whether it is OK to let the pump not work at the moment by setting the switch level closer to the basement level which means the pump will only start when the water is about 2-3 in. off the basement level.
 

Pumpguy

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I see that you asked this question in July and the answers drifted off here. What you have in the summer is a water table that is not rising because its simply not raining much. Once it starts raining, your pump will have to work very hard to keep the water off the floor if you keep it off till the last possible moment. Also, while the water fills those drain pipes that run under the floor, the water in them exerts hydrostatic pressure on the floor and you also run the risk of rainwater quickly seeping in between the floor and wall seam before it can even get into the drain pipes to get to the sump. I would adjust the pump and float so that the water level remains under the bottom of the drain pipes. It may run a bit more often, but certainly not as much as if it were trying to drain the sump all the way to the bottom. I would then look into a good water powered or battery powered backup sump pump like the Basepump or Hydropump made by Base Products Corp in Buffalo NY.
 
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