Sump pump eliminates water?


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Old 07-27-17, 09:17 PM
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Sump pump eliminates water?

When water table is high, water goes into the weeping tile and to the sump pump. Sump pump collects water and does its job and discharges outside home. Then wouldn't the same water just go back to the water table and into the weeping tile and to the sump pump again? It seems like a never ending cycle. Water being pumped out, and the same water goes back into the pump and get pumped out again. It's not like the sump pump is eliminating water by discharging it to the sewage or storm drain or whatever.
 

Last edited by BurgerKing; 07-27-17 at 09:49 PM.
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Old 07-27-17, 09:22 PM
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The sump pump isn't designed to eliminate water. It just removes it from one place and sends it to another.

It's up to you to make sure it's far enough away not to return.
If your water table is high.... discharging it in the street/sewer isn't going to lower the water table any measurable amount.
 
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Old 07-28-17, 05:10 AM
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Yes, you are correct that you can end up pumping water in a circle. Basements in some areas are rather like boats with water all around and the sump/bilge pump is just there to keep up with the leaks. When I built my house I paid careful attention to the weeping and drainage system for my basement. I am lucky that my property is hilly so it is easy to discharge the water downhill from the house so it does not return. If you live in flat terrain and have a small piece of property it can be difficult or even impossible to get the water far enough away.
 
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Old 07-28-17, 06:57 AM
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discharging it in the street/sewer
This isn't always legal in many communities. Most of us in my neighborhood ran a pipe under ground to the curb then down into crushed stone.

Side comment
One of the downsides about a water jet pump is the fact that it is actually adding more water to a flood situation. I never recommend this type of sump pump back up to customers.
 
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Old 07-28-17, 02:45 PM
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Hey Pilot Dane, What u mean by sump pump's there to keep up with the leaks? Like if water tank or washer is leaking, it pumps the water outside your home to prevent a basement flood?
 
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Old 07-28-17, 05:54 PM
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Unless you're built high than most of the neighborhood, most sump pits will receive water from the ground and surrounding perimeter of the foundation. Leaks not withstanding. The water is a natural occurring problem and must be pumped out of the basement via the sump pump.
 
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Old 07-29-17, 04:53 AM
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A properly installed and properly working perimeter drain system and sump pump creates steep gradients in the water table where the latter is lower under the house and close to its normal level in the yard.

Under heavy rain conditions it is possible for the water table in the yard to be much higher than normal. This may result in the water table under the house to not be as low as needed and the basement could unexpectedly flood.

If the sump pump does not keep up regardless of the reason then you are almost guaranteed to have basement flooding.

Interstices and gaps and pockets in the soil fill around the house can hold water and channel that water over to cracks in the roundation and between the foundation and basement floor slab creating low resistance entry into the basement aka extremely localized high water table spots.

A layer of mulch or gravel for landscaping against the house with a depression to hold same with low points below the level of the soil surface and lawn level a few feet away from the house is undesirable and can harbor water that can take its time seeping into your basement.

You may need to regrade the land so water does not pool up against the foundation within or not within porous material against the foundation.

A dry well filled or not filled with gravel and with or without brick or block walls is a good idea but it could overflow under extreme conditions. IMHO nothing wrong with putting it at the front of your yard at or near the curb even if overflow goes into the street.
 
 

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