Here are some questions you need to answer before buying a water sump pump. Your answers will help you know if a water sump pump is a good choice for you.
What is the source for the water entering your home? Sump water pumps must be run by city water. Home well water systems will not work.
What is the water pressure of the water entering your home? The higher the water pressure coming into your home up to 100 psi (pounds per square inch) the more water the pump will eject from the sump pit. The psi should be at least 40.
How do you know if your water supply would meet the above stated requirements? Here is an easy way to determine if a water powered pump would do the job for you. If you can fill a five gallon bucket at your hose spigot outside in less than 20 seconds, you are good to go.
How big is your sump pump pit? Get the yardstick or tape measure out and measure the pit diameter and depth. Not all manufactured water pumps require the same sump pit size. The range of pit diameter size required is 10 to 18 inches.
What is the rate at which water comes into the sump pit? The maximum volume a water powered sump pump can eject in an hour is 2000 gallons per hour (GPH). The volume of water this type of pump can remove in an hour varies from 321 to 2000 GPH depending upon manufacturer.
How much city water would the water pump use to move one gallon of pit water? The amount of fresh municipal water required to eject one gallon of pit water varies by manufacturer. The ratio is from 1:1 or 1:2. Therefore, the most you can expect is that one gallon of fresh city water is required to eject two gallons of pit water. Based on those statistics using a water sump pump could become costly.
Would you like a pump that is placed outside the sump pit? Some manufacturers have designed the sump water pump to be placed on the basement ceiling joist above the pit. Corrosion is not a factor and repair is performed outside the pit.
What construction material is used? The manufacturers have chosen to use heavy duty, corrosion resistant polypropylene. When the sump water pump is placed outside the pit, the pump is known to have a long life.
What about particles in the sump pit? Some manufacturers use a suction screen which keeps foreign objects out.
Do you want to save on your electric bill? Water powered sump pumps do not used electricity. The amount of money saved on electricity may be more than the cost of using the municipal water supply.
Would you like an alarm that lets you know when the water level in the sump pit is high? Some manufacturers include a high water alarm. This is extremely important since you will want to know if the water powered sump pump is not keeping up with the volume of water coming into the pit.
These are the basic things to consider before buying a sump water pump. By thinking about the above questions, you should have a better idea if you should proceed by finding out more specific details of what each manufacturer offers.
