Do I Need A Sump Pump?

[mummer43]

I live in a fairly new home and I currently do not have a sump pump. I have a sump pit that has two pipes that collect water and drains it to a daylight drain on my property. I spoke to the builder about this and he feels like this is a better situation than having to rely on a sump pump to drain the water. While I'm sure that having the water run out through pipes is the best way to drain water away from my home, I am wondering if installing a sump pump in the pit to give me peace of mind is something I should consider. I have never had any water come into my basement despite having some very heavy rain. but it seems like water sits in the pot until it gets high enough to drain through the pipes. Do I want water sitting in the pot or will it drain down slowly leaving it dry between rains?

 

[JohnCT]

If you ask me, a passive solution is far better than any automatic system, assuming the passive system has the capacity you need. I don't think the standing water because if it's ground water it probably gets rotated out enough to keep it from smelling.

John

 

[Sponsor]

 

[mummer43]

If you ask me, a passive solution is far better than any automatic system, assuming the passive system has the capacity you need. I don't think the standing water because if it's ground water it probably gets rotated out enough to keep it from smelling.

John

We recently had rain for a week straight which was pretty heavy at times and the basement remained dry. So you don't think installing a pump for redundancy is worth it?

 

[Reach4]

If the water at the other end does not rise as high as the top of the pit, and you can rod out the pipe if it is ever needed, relax and be happy. You could put in an alarm in case the water rises above the pipe. If the alarm goes off, quickly rod out the pipe. That pipe getting clogged is unlikely unless it is at the exist point. A pop-up at the exit could accumulate debris at the low part.

 

[mummer43]

If the water at the other end does not rise as high as the top of the pit, and you can rod out the pipe if it is ever needed, relax and be happy. You could put in an alarm in case the water rises above the pipe. If the alarm goes off, quickly rod out the pipe. That pipe getting clogged is unlikely unless it is at the exist point. A pop-up at the exit could accumulate debris at the low part.

The water at the other end is well below the level of the pit and the pipe runs pretty far down to a low spot on our property. Having learned more about my situation, I feel pretty good about having a daylight drain and not a pump.

 

[JohnCT]

We recently had rain for a week straight which was pretty heavy at times and the basement remained dry. So you don't think installing a pump for redundancy is worth it?

Not for me it wouldn't be, and as Reach said, an alarm is another passive device that would take no looking after in case the drain pipe plugs. If that was my situation, I would just occasionally monitor the level in the pit to make sure the local groundwater situation didn't change - my brother was in his house for 20 years with a bone dry basement and then something changed where he would literally get a foot of water at times welling up through the slab. They had to install a sump system but since his lot is level, he had to go to a float and pump system. He also added an alarm sensor to his home security system in case the pump failed while they were away.

My mom's house always had water in the basement after heavy rains since I was a kid, and recently my brother and I arranged for an old immigrant guy (Soviet bloc escapee) who was well known for drying basements to have a look. He ended up cutting into the slab and installing a half in curtain on the front side of the foundation and cementing it into place. The system is totally passive and drains through about 100' of pipe out to the swamp behind mom's house because her lot has a slight pitch out back. We had a lot of rain here in CT the last few days and it's dry.

John