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Sump pump on every 2-3 minutes. No water outside?

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Sump pump on every 2-3 minutes. No water outside? chrisc 04-17-2008
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Posted by S. Barker on April 17, 2008, 8:40 pm
If the pump stops working the basement WILL flood. That's why we HAVE sump
pumps. if you're real paranoid about it, you can put in a battery operated
backup pump that only kicks on at a higher level than the regular one.
Ground water running in is normal. That's why the pumps are there.

s

> It keeps kicking on every few minutes. This has been going on for weeks. I
> know their is a spring thaw. But, there can't be that much water in the
> ground can there? The water is coming in through one of the cast iron
> pipes in the pit . There are 2 of the pipes in the pit opposite to each
> other. The one pipe that the water is coming in from is on the one side of
> the house where the ground is sort of unlevel. There is no visible water
> and the ground is not even moist there. That side also is where the
> gutters drain out to. But the water is coming in pretty fast from the pipe
> in the pit. I would say about 1 GALLON per 40 seconds. My friend said we
> need to dig and put some pvc pipe in for drainage. It hasn't rained that
> much either. I'm scared that if the pump stops working the basement will
> flood. What can I do? Could there possibly be a broken water main near
> there? Thanks a lot for any help.
>



Posted by dpb on April 17, 2008, 9:55 pm
S. Barker wrote:
> If the pump stops working the basement WILL flood. That's why we HAVE sump
> pumps. if you're real paranoid about it, you can put in a battery operated
> backup pump that only kicks on at a higher level than the regular one.
> Ground water running in is normal. That's why the pumps are there.
...

For some appropriate definition of "normal"... :)

One could also look into the water supply Venturi systems that don't
rely on electric power or battery in a situation such as this where
there is so much water that a power outage of any duration might cause a
real disaster.

--

Posted by mm on April 18, 2008, 1:58 am
wrote:

>It keeps kicking on every few minutes. This has been going on for weeks. I
>know their is a spring thaw. But, there can't be that much water in the
>ground can there?

Considering that the ground is 1000's of miles wide, yes there can be.
The amount of water that you pump out with the sump pump is trivial
compared to the water that is out there. Your sump has a diameter of
maybe 18 inches, and area of 253 square inches, less than 2 square
feet. How big is your yard? Many many times as big. Plus maybe you
are draining the next guy's yard, and doing it alone if your sump
level is set lower than his.

>The water is coming in through one of the cast iron pipes
>in the pit . There are 2 of the pipes in the pit opposite to each other. The
>one pipe that the water is coming in from is on the one side of the house
>where the ground is sort of unlevel. There is no visible water and the
>ground is not even moist there.

How far below ground level is your basement floor? How far below that
is the water level in the sump. The water only has to be a little
higher than the water in the sump gets. For my house that's about 7
feet below the surface of the ground. I can't see through more than
a foot, so I certainly can't see that deep.

>That side also is where the gutters drain
>out to. But the water is coming in pretty fast from the pipe in the pit. I
>would say about 1 GALLON per 40 seconds. My friend said we need to dig and
>put some pvc pipe in for drainage.

Don't you already have iron pipe of some sort, going into the sump,
doing what it's supposed to do? Where does he want to put pvc pipe?
In the same place? Better don't ask him. Check with someone else.

>It hasn't rained that much either. I'm
>scared that if the pump stops working the basement will flood.

It's possible. If the "water table" is higher than your basement
floor, that's what will happen. My pump ran a lot when I moved in,
and I raised the float a couple inches and it only runs 1/4 as much as
it did. The rest of the time, the water is almost 2 inches higher
than it was, but still several inches below the floor.

>What can I
>do? Could there possibly be a broken water main near there? Thanks a lot for
>any help.

Maybe a water sub-main. :)


How high in the sump does the water have to get before the pump turns
on? Can you hold the float down so the pump doesn't go on, and see
how high the water gets? When it starts getting close to the floor,
close to overflowing, let go of the float so that the pump turns back
on.

But in some cases, if the float is set to run when there is say 14
inches of water, it will run over and over and over, but if you hold
the float down the water never gets over say 15 inches,

Posted by on April 18, 2008, 8:46 am
> wrote:
>
> >It keeps kicking on every few minutes. This has been going on for weeks. =
I
> >know their is a spring thaw. But, there can't be that much water in the
> >ground can there?
>
> Considering that the ground is 1000's of miles wide, yes there can be.
> The amount of water that you pump out with the sump pump is trivial
> compared to the water that is out there. =A0Your sump has a diameter of
> maybe 18 inches, and area of 253 square inches, less than 2 square
> feet. =A0How big is your yard? =A0Many many times as big. =A0Plus maybe yo=
u
> are draining the next guy's yard, and doing it alone if your sump
> level is set lower than his.
>
> >The water is coming in through one of the cast iron pipes
> >in the pit . There are 2 of the pipes in the pit opposite to each other. =
The
> >one pipe that the water is coming in from is on the one side of the house=

> >where the ground is sort of unlevel. There is no visible water and the
> >ground is not even moist there.
>
> How far below ground level is your basement floor? =A0How far below that
> is the water level in the sump. =A0 The water only has to be a little
> higher than the water in the sump gets. =A0For my house that's about 7
> feet below the surface of the ground. =A0 I can't see through more than
> a foot, so I certainly can't see that deep.
>
> >That side also is where the gutters drain
> >out to. But the water is coming in pretty fast from the pipe in the pit. =
I
> >would say about 1 GALLON per 40 seconds. My friend said we need to dig an=
d
> >put some pvc pipe in for drainage.
>
> Don't you already have iron pipe of some sort, going into the sump,
> doing what it's supposed to do? =A0 Where does he want to put pvc pipe?
> In the same place? =A0Better don't ask him. =A0Check with someone else.
>
> >It hasn't rained that much either. I'm
> >scared that if the pump stops working the basement will flood.
>
> It's possible. If the "water table" is higher than your basement
> floor, that's what will happen. =A0 My pump ran a lot when I moved in,
> and I raised the float a couple inches and it only runs 1/4 as much as
> it did. =A0 The rest of the time, the water is almost 2 inches higher
> than it was, but still several inches below the floor. =A0
>
> >What can I
> >do? Could there possibly be a broken water main near there? Thanks a lot =
for
> >any help.
>
> Maybe a water sub-main. :)
>
> How high in the sump does the water have to get before the pump turns
> on? =A0Can you hold the float down so the pump doesn't go on, and see
> how high the water gets? =A0When it starts getting close to the floor,
> close to overflowing, let go of the float so that the pump turns back
> on.
>
> But in some cases, if the float is set to run when there is say 14
> inches of water, it will run over and over and over, but if you hold
> the float down the water never gets over say 15 inches,


Another thing to check that no one has mentioned so far is where is
the sump pump discharge going? It should be 15ft+ away from the
house.

Posted by mm on April 18, 2008, 11:03 pm
On Fri, 18 Apr 2008 05:46:13 -0700 (PDT), trader4@optonline.net wrote:

>
>Another thing to check that no one has mentioned so far is where is
>the sump pump discharge going? It should be 15ft+ away from the
>house.

I have a friend who used to live in a house with a pool. A pool! I
thought the house would be beautiful. No. I slept in the basement,
and the sump pump discharged 6 inches from the house, all the water
seeped right back into the sump and the pump started again a minute or
two after it stopped. I was able to sleep anyhow, somehow.

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