# how/where to discharge sump pump



## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

Hmmmm,....

Are you on a Septic System,..??..??... Or a community Sewer System,..??.....

Is there another direction,+/ or side of the house you could go to,..??......


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## Mike Swearingen (Mar 15, 2005)

Check with your Building Inspection Department for local code and possible permit and inspection requirements.
Depending upon local code and your particular situation, you may be able to pump it to a buried dry sump pit, to a property line drainage ditch, to a septic system, public storm drainage system, or public sewer system. 
Good luck!
Mike


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## downers (Jan 7, 2008)

*replies*

we are on a city sewer system -- no septic tank. our local codes specify that we CANNOT tie sump/storm water back into our wastewater system.

we know we want to pump the water outside, to let it drain out into the yard -- the front of our property does drain downhill so i don't think we'll have problems with standing water, once it is out there. but the room where the sump is located is right by our concrete driveway and front walk, and the most logical place to put the water would be our front lawn... which would require 40+ feet of pipe inside our basement to get it over to that side of the house. i've just never seen a house where the sump ejector ran THROUGH the house, rather than just straight out, and i wonder if there would be a problem with this.


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

Ayuh,......... It's Doable,........

I'd up-grade to abit larger Pump,+ use a check-valve........



> Because the hole is pretty small (about 3 in. diameter), there is no way for us to tell how far this pipe goes, where it goes, etc. without ripping up our driveway.


Have you looked to see where the present pipe daylights out,..??..
Usually they run fairly straight,...Find the End,....
And possibly you can snake it out,+ get by til proper Repairs can be made........


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## downers (Jan 7, 2008)

*reply again*

yes, our current pump does have a check valve... we're trying to avoid buying a new pump if possible, since this one is only two years old.

i was thinking about snaking the old pipe, but the problem is that it seems to run very close to the surface, and because we get VERY cold winters here in the midwest, if we try to reconnect to it, i worry about it freezing/bursting again. the pipe that comes out is pretty small in diameter (less than 1.5 inches), so to really make it freeze-proof, i understand that we would need it to be much larger (up to 4 inches), and perforated. in order to do that, we'd have to carve up probably 10-15 feet of concrete! sometimes i have to wonder what the folks who built our house were thinking...


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## Prettystandard (Jun 18, 2008)

downers, sounds like you have the exact same thing as me.

My sump is located directly below my main landing at the front door. It's currently plumbed to the washing machine drain. It has so much pressure that it pushes water up my shower drain in the adjacent room.

I need to change it ASAP.

My only options are to route my sump 20+ feet in any horizontal direction or go straight out and rip out tons of concrete and re-bury the line...

unless of course i bore horizontally, which i'm sure is cheap.

I also live in the midwest...maybe we had the same contractor.


My main worries are also the standing water in 'x' horizontal feet in addition to water above the check. It is nearly impossible to slope the inside-the-house horizontal run...any slope would put me below the sill and back into the poured foundation (which i want to avoid drilling through).


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## downers (Jan 7, 2008)

*not as bad as you think*

prettystandard -- we ended up biting the bullet and running the 1 1/2 pvc straight up from the pump (about 6 feet, ceiling level), then more-or-less horizontal from there about 40 feet, to eject outside at the opposite side of the house. i say "more-or-less horizontal" because there is one area where we had to go down, then up again, to get around a structural steel beam. so in that area, we will have standing water in the pipes most of the time... the rest of the pipes have a slight, slight incline so no water stays in them for long. so far, after about 4 months (including the winter, and a wet spring) we haven't had any problems (leaks or otherwise) with this set up. we were worried because some of this pipe passes through the finished area of our basement, but besides some gurgling noises when the sump turns on, it is really not very obtrusive. we have not yet buried the pipe on the outside of our house, and i don't know if we will. right now we just have the 1 1/2 inch pvc running straight out through our foundation, turning 90 degrees and extending an additional 5 feet out to our front lawn, sloping slightly downward. it's mostly concealed by bushes, and we wrapped pipe insulation around it to prevent it from freezing during the winter (this seemed to work). i don't know if we will bury it, as i have this crazy idea to divert some of this water to help irrigate our garden.

so... go for it. 20 feet horizontal shouldn't be a problem, and although there will be one area where it has standing water (before the last vertical run, so you can avoid drilling through your foundation), as long as your basement temperature doesn't approach freezing, you should be fine.


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## BillyD (Mar 15, 2008)

If you have a bit of slope it should drain and not freeze. I the trap in your basement will not freeze will it?


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