Cracked Sewage Pump Basin

[Mgarbm]

After 2 years of living in our 17 year old home I decided to investigate the source of leaking water into the sewage basin. Not really a problem(more an annoyance)unless we get a lot of rain and/or the water table rises which then my ejector pump starts to cycle and discharge water into septic system. The attached photo shows the large crack which I suspect someone dropped the cast iron pump into the basin.


Looking for ideas of how to seal the crack?


JB Water Weld, hydraulic cement, Flex Paste, or?


I read a similar issue someone suggesting fill bottom 1” of pit with hydraulic cement?


I was also thinking fabricating a 1” thick round disk out of polyethylene stock to seal the entire bottom of basin?

My first post as a new member and appreciate any help, thanks.

 

[James Henry]

I personally like the idea of fabricating a round disk. If you wash and degrease the area then match the material and use the correct specified glue on the bottom and sides you will have a nice tough new bottom.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

I would not expect JB weld to do you any good. A slab of hydraulic cement seems the best of the things you mentioned, but replacing the pit would be best. But a septic pit is usually usable for a toilet too, and if I fed a toilet into that, I would want that pit to be leak-free.

But as a repair, can you fit a strong pit inside of your existing failed one? How many inlets? How about fitting a slightly smaller pit inside, and cut it down to be below the inlets. Then fill the annular space with that cement or mortar. Not sure if that would be adequate, but seems like it might be plenty functional.

A septic pit should be sealed and have a 2 inch vent thru the roof, tho 1.5 would work in practice. The septic pits I see sold today are fiber-filled plastic rather than polyethylene.

If you got that swapped out, how about adding a basement toilet at the same time? If you ever sell, another toilet in the count is a big deal to get people to look at the house, even if the toilet is in the basement. Plus, it could come in handy. On the downside, the tax assessor may bump your taxes if he knows.

You understand that an AAV won't work for a septic pit, because the vent needs to release air as the sewage rises.

My laundry, basement shower, and washer all get added to my unvented sump pit, but that pumps into what I think is a dry well. I used to think it went into the septic.

 

[Mgarbm]

I personally like the idea of fabricating a round disk. If you wash and degrease the area then match the material and use the correct specified glue on the bottom and sides you will have a nice tough new bottom.

I like it too but it is the most expensive and laborious. I'm thinking first to dry out the basin, clean/sand the inside of basin around crack to promote adhesion and then use caulking gun with Flexpaste to fill the the crack as much as possible then spread it on prepped area to cure. I'll put a 1/2" thick piece of plastic to support the pump as to not weaken the basin crack. If it still leaks water I can then try hydraulic cement to replace the Flex Paste, if still leaks then the round disk.

 

[Mgarbm]

Update!

I decided to go all-in like James Henry suggested and fabricate the disk with a taper to match basin. Fits like a cork with a bead of silicone around perimeter and more on top. Won’t be able to test it until it rains in the spring time. Photos attached

 

[Reach4]

Looks nice!

There is shower waterproofing liquid. I think they talk of Redguard, but I have no experience.

Flex Seal , the screen door boat product, looks interesting too. I think you brought that up in your thread.

If it floats up, I wonder where you could find some lead bricks to counter the flotation force. The weight of the cast iron sump pump may be quite sufficient.

 

[Oldyellr]

My house was built 45 years ago and has a sewage basin in the basement for the bathroom and laundry tubs. We are on a septic tank. Years ago when the ejector pump float switch started intermittently failing, causing smelly floods, I decided to replace the old pump with a new submerged cast iron one with a rubber float switch. That's when I saw the bottom of the basin was rusted out. Rather than pay a fortune to have a modern plastic basin installed, I cleaned it all out and poured 3" of concrete into the bottom. It's been working fine for decades. I'm now in the process of replacing the rusted-out cover, which we've had to cover with a blanket to stop sewer gases, with a new plastic one. I'm using a Rubbermaid 32 gallon garbage can cover sealed with silicone, pipes and cords sealed with spray foam, $20 vs. $100+ for a proprietary cover that would need bolts anchored in the concrete floor.

 

[John Gayewski]

Do you have a separate sump pit? If not this may have an unintended consequence. It's possible that the crack in the bottom of your ejector pit was doing some good. Time will tell I guess.

 

[Oldyellr]

I do have a separate sump pump. It runs during heavy rain, during the spring runoff after the thaw and if the outside tap is leaking, which happened recently. The sewage basin is just for the downstairs bathroom and laundry tubs. The washing machine also used to drain into it, but we switched that directly to the septic tank drain because it has enough head, which takes a big load off the sewage ejector pump.