Help with drainaige - Sump constantly running

trailblazer1229 · 03-02-2010, 10:53 AM

Are you close to a river or stream? Here in MD, I am about 1000 yards from the head of a creek that leads to a river that leads to the bay. Back near Christmas we had 20+ inches of snow and then a lot of rain. Down about 3 inches of soil I have a lot of sand. Just the way the ground is here. My sump rand every 30 secs, then a week later, 90 secs, then a week later about every 5 minutes. I had water continuously pouring in from only 1 tile in the pit. I had to extend my discharge drain away from the house and level some of my yard to prevent a swamp. I got fed up and finally got a back up. I checked the water table in my area from a website and found it to be the highest level ever. That combined with a full moon and an easterly wind provided the perfect storm. Eventhough I am far enough from water it still affected the water table. As it dried out a bit and over time, the table lowered and water stopped flowing into the pit. I don't have a solution, but see if you can figure out what the water table level is. I even suspected an underground water pipe leak, but did not see anything bubling to the surface. But, since your drain pipe emties directly to the sewer system, perhaps and underground water leak would not buble to the surface, it would just frind the easiest way out and into the sewer. perhaps a call to the local water company if they sully water in the area might help.

eddiemoney · 03-10-2010, 11:43 AM

interesting about the stream

TANC · 03-10-2010, 11:48 AM

Alright, I found an electronic version of my blueprints, threw in a couple notes and cleared out the dimensions and interior walls to show you what I am dealing with.

Here you can see the basement, location of sumppit, and how exposed the sump pit wall is. Additionally I threw in a pictures of the three inlets into the sump pit (a different color for contrast). What is interesting is the one with the arrow is the only one that ever gets any water, the other ones are bone dry.

Any thoughts?

jomama45 · 03-15-2010, 10:55 AM

Don't let the location, orientation of inlets, etc.. confuse you. They mean very little in a modern system. The crock can literaly be placed anywhere around the exterior with little difference in flow in a well constructed sytem. I'd be willing to bet that the only inlet that sees water flow is also the lowest inlet, even if only by an 1/8".

One other thought that I didn't mention before: Often times the stone or granualar material surrounding the sewer & water main is known to be a great cappilary for water to flow to a foundation. Often times when the main are above the bottom of footing, our excavator will install some heavy clay in the trench to create a dam of sorts to keep water from constantly flowign into the basement.

Bushman · 04-03-2010, 10:19 AM

I too have a pump that runs nonstop. I have a spring or artesian well under the house and the tile empties into the sump pit at a rate of about 2-3 gallons a minute. In your case it looks like the back and side all slopes towards your hose. Bummer. i would try and redirect the water around your house with some berms. This should help with part of it. I would install a creek bed between you and the neighbor with a tile in it running to the street. You can fix the topo of the land but you can't fix the underside of it. If you have a spring or high water table as I do then you have to adapt. battery back up systems can give you as much as ten hours run time on sump. Time enough to get home and fire up the generator.
If you can get a big enough berm on the backside plant a couple spruce trees that can double as privacy between you and the guy up on the hill.
Good Luck!!

AllanJ · 04-04-2010, 12:15 AM

Is the storm drain higher or lower than your foundation footings? If higher then you are doomed to keep pumping the water up to the storm drain with your existing setup. Otherwise you could dig a trench from your foundation to the storm drain and put in a straight pipe that would take away all the water.

For a system that has to run 24 hours a day 7 days a week, you could have a second pit with a backup pump and hopefully both pumps don't break down at the same time.

03-02-2010, 10:53 AM	#16
trailblazer1229 Newbie Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Annapolis, MD Posts: 20	Help with drainaige - Sump constantly running Are you close to a river or stream? Here in MD, I am about 1000 yards from the head of a creek that leads to a river that leads to the bay. Back near Christmas we had 20+ inches of snow and then a lot of rain. Down about 3 inches of soil I have a lot of sand. Just the way the ground is here. My sump rand every 30 secs, then a week later, 90 secs, then a week later about every 5 minutes. I had water continuously pouring in from only 1 tile in the pit. I had to extend my discharge drain away from the house and level some of my yard to prevent a swamp. I got fed up and finally got a back up. I checked the water table in my area from a website and found it to be the highest level ever. That combined with a full moon and an easterly wind provided the perfect storm. Eventhough I am far enough from water it still affected the water table. As it dried out a bit and over time, the table lowered and water stopped flowing into the pit. I don't have a solution, but see if you can figure out what the water table level is. I even suspected an underground water pipe leak, but did not see anything bubling to the surface. But, since your drain pipe emties directly to the sewer system, perhaps and underground water leak would not buble to the surface, it would just frind the easiest way out and into the sewer. perhaps a call to the local water company if they sully water in the area might help.

03-10-2010, 11:43 AM	#17
eddiemoney Newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 6	Help with drainaige - Sump constantly running interesting about the stream Last edited by eddiemoney; 03-10-2010 at 11:47 AM.

03-10-2010, 11:48 AM	#18
TANC Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Iowa Posts: 45	Help with drainaige - Sump constantly running Alright, I found an electronic version of my blueprints, threw in a couple notes and cleared out the dimensions and interior walls to show you what I am dealing with. Here you can see the basement, location of sumppit, and how exposed the sump pit wall is. Additionally I threw in a pictures of the three inlets into the sump pit (a different color for contrast). What is interesting is the one with the arrow is the only one that ever gets any water, the other ones are bone dry. Any thoughts?

03-15-2010, 10:55 AM	#19
jomama45 Concrete & Masonry Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 2,319	Help with drainaige - Sump constantly running Don't let the location, orientation of inlets, etc.. confuse you. They mean very little in a modern system. The crock can literaly be placed anywhere around the exterior with little difference in flow in a well constructed sytem. I'd be willing to bet that the only inlet that sees water flow is also the lowest inlet, even if only by an 1/8". One other thought that I didn't mention before: Often times the stone or granualar material surrounding the sewer & water main is known to be a great cappilary for water to flow to a foundation. Often times when the main are above the bottom of footing, our excavator will install some heavy clay in the trench to create a dam of sorts to keep water from constantly flowign into the basement.

04-03-2010, 10:19 AM	#20
Bushman Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Lansing, Michigan Posts: 130	Help with drainaige - Sump constantly running I too have a pump that runs nonstop. I have a spring or artesian well under the house and the tile empties into the sump pit at a rate of about 2-3 gallons a minute. In your case it looks like the back and side all slopes towards your hose. Bummer. i would try and redirect the water around your house with some berms. This should help with part of it. I would install a creek bed between you and the neighbor with a tile in it running to the street. You can fix the topo of the land but you can't fix the underside of it. If you have a spring or high water table as I do then you have to adapt. battery back up systems can give you as much as ten hours run time on sump. Time enough to get home and fire up the generator. If you can get a big enough berm on the backside plant a couple spruce trees that can double as privacy between you and the guy up on the hill. Good Luck!!

Help with drainaige - Sump constantly running