The one thing in my area that many homes have in common are sump pits. To me this is one of the major Achilles heel that most homeowners do not thing about until the power fails and the battery on their emergency sump pump dies or the generator stops working.

 

With that said I'm trying to come up with some ideas on how to manage the water filling the sump pit when the power is out and there is no alternative power source.  There are emergency sump pumps that use municipal water to pull the water put of the sump, but lets assume that the municipal water provider has lost water pressure or that municipal water has been disrupted so these water powered sump pumps will not be useful.

 

Using a bucket to empty the pit is not a realistic alternative as first it is fatiguing and as humans we all need sleep. Third during a long power outage most people will still need to leave their homes for sometime be it to go to work (if they can) or whatever other reason. 

 

So our goal is to come up with some sort of passive system to channel the water in the sump pit out of the pit without it overflowing and flooding a basement.

Ive got a basement watchdog battery backup and also a sump pro water powered backup.

Ive got a basement watchdog battery backup and also a sump pro water powered backup.

Would they last for at least 30 days on a continues cycle? The goal is for us to figure out how to manage the water going tinto the sump pit without the use of battery backup or water powered pumps. It's not easy is it?

You need energy to move the water.   Solar?  Wind? Bicycle Power? Steam? Propane?  Figure out what energy you have available first and then figure out how to use it to do this job.  No energy - no work.

You flood. Look, you are creating a scenario that has no wins. Generator is out you say. Is my car out? Can I charge batteries from my car for pumps? Can I run an inverter big enough to drive the pumps from my car?

 

If you have no power and gasoline for 30 days, you have a slew of much bigger problems then sump pumps, like roving zombies trying to eat your face.

The only thing I could see doing would be to run a drain line to daylight. Being able to do this though would depend on your elevations. You would need to be able to run the drain line to a point that is below the level in the sump pit.

If conditions allow this it would be a pretty simple back up that doesn't need maintenance.

One other idea would be a solar battery charger. You would need a good sized charger and battery bank though to be able to keep up with demand.

The only thing I could see doing would be to run a drain line to daylight.

 

If you're in a borderline elevation situation, it may also be possible to punch into the storm drain at the level of the sump and still have enough pitch to drain.  The downside is that if the storm drains ever fill and flood above the street, it will backflow into the sump unless you put a check valve in.

 

Short of that, have multiple backups.  Currently I run 3 pumps in my sump.  A small 4 gallon a minute pump for minor flows, a big 65gpm pump when it's running hard and a 3rd 60gpm pump mounted  higher in the pit if the main pump fails.  I have a standby generator that supplies electric.  If the generator fails, I have a harbor freight 2" clear water gasoline pump. 

Its not a long term solution but my dad ran his sump pump during sandy off his lawn tractor by linking the battery in the tractor to his battery back up. its a fire risk for sure but it worked for him. I would only use as a last resort personally but I know it works 

Jokes about mother/sister/aunt sucking it out with a hose spring to mind...

you're never going to get 30 days continuous use out of anything like that. first off if your sump is filling as fast as it's discharging you have bigger problems (like some major flooding going on outside, and a too small pump.) Second the worst I've ever seen at my mom's house was a 50% duty cycle for more than 24 hours (Irene.) That was with the ground already saturated, all 3 underground rivers at capacity and the creek 500' away practically overflowing. Keep in mind her basement has had 3' of water on occasions when the pump, backup and power were down for only 8 hours in the past. (800sqft basement also)

This topic has been discussed before. Search for "sump" in the forums.

 

The best "long term". Solution was a combo of a generator plus a marine battery with an inverter charger. You would flip back and forth between running in battery and running on generator and recharging the battery at that time

 

Obviously you need to be there to switch them. This scenario was envisioned where people live where water table stays high for several days and perhaps the power out for a week. Aka Sandy

 

And lastly. If it was so bad as far as the water rising like Irene or Sandy, and the power was out, are you really going to work? My home is my castle and I would use every sick day and vacation day to watch the basement.

Another thing that will help, not a solution to the problem. Would be making sure your house has clean working gutters and the downspouts are piped away from your house. I see many homes with the downspouts dumping water directly at the foundation and that many times is the cause for excess basement water. A lot of water comes off of a roof in a storm. Our soil here in Northern NJ is like clay it dosent absorb water very well. A home built on a lot with a high water table or at the bottom of a hill is sometimes the situation as well and not much can be done to alleviate the issue in the first place. A pit and working pump are a must. I have seen people use pool liner around their foundations and bury them with flower beds around the perimeter about 3-4' out. To keep as much water as possible from soaking into the ground around the immediate soil near the foundation. It does result in a dryer basement. Less water in the pit will be less energy needed to pump it out.

 

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Solar panels can be used to charge the battery of a battery powered back up system.

Depending on the circumstances, might look into a venturi pump. Google Liberty pump for an example. downside is it uses 1 gal. of water from your main for every 2 gals. of sump pit water it pushes out.