# Sump Pump Discharge Question



## zfreeman (Jun 10, 2014)

Hello there everyone. I moved into my first home about three years ago in Illinois. When we moved in, our sump pump exited the home through white PVC with the flexible black PVC pipe connected with a coupler into the backyard about 25 ft from the foundation. I have never liked this because it makes my yard very wet as my sump pump runs frequently and I have to move it to mow, etc. Long story short I am looking for a different drainage option/solution so my backyard isn't so wet. I have seen a buried 1 1/2" PVC pipe directly underneath the sump pump discharge PVC but it was not connected when I moved in so I have never attempted to connect it. One day I put a garden hose down the PVC pipe and ran the water for a few minutes. After about 5 minutes the water would start to backup and exit the PVC back up through the top so I wasn't sure if it would be able to handle a hard rain. I would love it if it connected to the storm drain but I am not willing to take that chance of it backing up on me unexpectedly. I am asking for advice on what to do. Should I call a plumber and have them use a camera? Should I hook it up to my sump and see if it can handle it? Is there some other option? Thanks for your help everyone


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## zfreeman (Jun 10, 2014)

I will post a picture but it is not letting me right now until there are 5 posts.


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## jmon (Nov 5, 2012)

Click on post reply, scroll down to manage attachments, upload and post your pics from there. Thanks.


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## zfreeman (Jun 10, 2014)

Here is a picture of the pipe


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## Ghostmaker (Mar 2, 2013)

Apparently the ordinal pipe discharge to the underground pipe is broken/blocked. You might try to use a professional snake to see it you can open it. The other option is install a new 4 inch pipe underground to some point of disposal. That point is not a septic or sanitary sewer.


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## ct18 (Sep 20, 2012)

You should also have a tee between the pvc 90 and the black pipe in case of winter freezing. It will atleast discharge the water out and not cause the sump to stop working. You can dig up the black pipe and run perforated which will discharge the water more evenly in the back yard. I would also run it a little deeper and put pee stone in the trench to help with drainage. I lived in Downers Grove for 2 years and the neighbors to the one side of us always had storm water problems. The soil is terrible for drainage, lots of clay


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## eharri3 (Jul 31, 2013)

Check your local ordinances. In some locations it used to be permissible to send sump pump discharge underground to the sanitary or storm sewer system or out at the curb, but then regulations were changed to say it has to be discharged to daylight somewhere on the lot. Homes that are grandfathered in keep their setups until a licensed plumber has to work on the system, at which point he is at risk of losing his license or facing other fines or penalties if he doesn't bring it completely up to code while he's there. That is one reason you will see the underground pipe left unused and the discharge point re-routed.

My home used to have it discharged at the curb but at some point when they had work done the previous owners had to have it re-routed to the lawn. A house that is still grandfathered in at the corner of my street still puts it out at the curb. Every Winter there is a long trail of ice against the curb from where his pump discharges that goes halfway down the block.

It could also be as someone said above that when previous owners got a blockage rather than pay to get it fixed they simply hacked off a section of PVC and ran the tube to the lawn.


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## zfreeman (Jun 10, 2014)

In the winter I remove the 1 1/2' corrugated pipe and zip tied a 4" corrugated pipe to the discharge to allow the water to flow freely but you are right if I leave the 1 1/2' it will freeze frequently and cause the pump to run continuously. Thanks for the suggestion, I am definitely going to add a tee to it when I decide what my plan of attack is.

City ordinance allows connection to storm sewer only but I just thought that would be an extremely costly job that I wouldn't be able to pay for.

Have you guys had experience with a drywell as mentioned earlier?


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## zfreeman (Jun 10, 2014)

What about a setup like this?

The pipe in the ground would take water away to a drywell or with perforated pipe and the open side would prevent freezing and I could attach a corrugated pipe to it if I needed to?

How far away should the perforated pipe or drywell be away from the foundation?


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## ct18 (Sep 20, 2012)

I would just trench it out in the yard into pipe with weep holes. The house i am currently in has that set up with no water issues. The grass grows a bit faster in that area. Go out a length or so away from the house before you start the weep piping. i have also seen where people would dig a hole at the termination and fill with pebble or a special receiver


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