If you’ve ever had a flooded basement or experience water damage from heavy rain or melting snow, you understand how important sump pump installation is in protecting your home. A sump pump helps eliminate basement floods and prevents water damage by removing excess moisture from your home, which can save thousands of dollars in restoration costs.
Typically, the sump pump is placed in the lowest part of your home, such as a basement or crawl space, and features valves that sense rising water levels and pressure. When the system detects that water is too high, it pumps it through a discharge pipe toward a designated drainage area outdoors. These drainage areas are usually located on the slope of your property and far enough away from your home that the excess water can’t return and flood the area again when it rains or snow melts.
A battery backup pump is an optional add-on to your sump system, which can help keep your basement dry even when the power goes out. The backup pump is connected to the sump pump through a check valve, which ensures that water only flows out of your home and doesn’t back into the sump pump when the power returns. A backup pump can be particularly useful in a disaster-prone area, such as an earthquake-prone zone or flood-prone area.
When you have a sump pump, you should regularly perform a few maintenance tasks to help protect your home from flood damage and to prolong the life of your pump. You can also ask a plumbing contractor to help you with maintenance to avoid any problems that may arise.
Some of the most common problems that can occur with a sump pump include an insufficient or overheated motor, an unplugged pump, and clogged discharge pipes. A defective float switch can cause the pump to continuously run and consume more energy than needed. If this occurs, you can try manually raising the switch to see if it starts working again. Alternatively, you can replace the float switch or the entire sump pump.
It’s also important to regularly check and clean the discharge line for clogs. The line can easily get clogged with debris that has been pulled into it, especially during arid weather. If you haven’t drained your sump pit for a long time, you can dump a bucket of water into the sump pit to force the pump to start.
You should also periodically test the backup battery to ensure it’s charged. You can use a multimeter to check the voltage of the battery and make sure it hasn’t depleted over time. If you want to test the battery, you should remove it from the pump and place it on a flat surface.