Karen from Iowa

We had water in the basement along the perimiter of the house, and we have a sump pump. The sump pump is working, however water sits in the pump for an extended period of time without pumping. If I add just 8 oz. of water, it will pump and refill again, but will not drain on it's own for a long period of time. Why would it not pump when the pit is full? I believe that is why we probably still had water int he basement because it is not pumping as frequently as it should. Also, is it normal for the pit to be filled with water?

KHouse75

How high from the top is the water in the sump? It sounds like the float might be set too high.

thekctermite

If your pit is full of water, your pump should be running. You either need to adjust its float or repair/replace it.

It is of course normal for water to migrate to the pit. The system is designed to operate that way, but is reliant on a functional pump to move the water out.

Alan

Could even be that your float is getting hung up on something inside the tank.

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wirenut1110

Do you have a check valve in the discharge line or "trash" in it. If you have vertical runs or horizontal runs not arranged to drain, it could be backflowing right back into the pit when the pumps cuts off. Sounds like it when you say it fills right back up after it pumps the water out.

47_47

I noticed you're from Iowa. Did you have this problem before your recent deluge? All of these rains could have raised your water table and this is creating hydrostatic pressure on your basement walls/ floor causing the water. Improper suface grading / downspout direction would also contribute to water entering your basement. As the others suggested your float could also be too high, sticking or heavy.

handy man88

The reason why your pit is still full of water is probably because your drain tile is full of water too, and it's equalized in your pit. The drain tile works to route water from your foundation to the pit. If water is not pumped out of the pit, the drain tile will continue to fill up with water.

Your sump pump is designed to run about 25 seconds once the float is initiated. That 25 seconds doesn't seem to be enough time for you to clear out all the water in your pit and tile.

What you need to do is to look at the sump cord plug. There are usually two plugs on the end that are plugged together. Pull apart the plug and plug the backplug into the outlet. This will cause the pump to run continuously until you disconnect it. Keep the pump running until all the water is gone.

Also, for the most part, floats are not to be adjusted on sump pumps. In your case though, it seems that the initiation position of your float doesn't kick in early enough possibly because the pit is not deep enough. You may need to adjust it, or buy a pump that has a vertical float switch. These usually kick off sooner.

Also, make sure your piping has a check valve to keep most of the water from returning.

Karen from Iowa

Thanks to all replies. It seemd we had various problems. The back check valve misfunctioned, the float malfunctioned, and the underground tile was never connected to the sump pit. We dug up the floor, connected the tile to the pit, replaced the sump pump (it was 8 yrs old), and fine tuned the piping. Let's hope that fixes everything.