Why does my sump pump out so much water? (pool, Lowes, drain)
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My wild guess is that I'm pumping out at least 50 gallons of water onto the street every day. The water coming into the sump pump pit is crystal clear and it never ceases to flow in from the drain tiles less than a steady, heavy trickle. It's always like this, even if it hasn't rained in a few weeks, etc. And it was like this during the winter when the ground was frozen for months and no precipitation was penetrating the ground.
I didn't have the finances in place to address this until now. I felt convinced (without any authority or knowledge/experience on the subject) that there was a leaky pipe, before the meter, very near to the house.
Yesterday I had a plumber come over from a large commercial outfit and I was mentally prepared to have to shell out a bunch of cash to address it. But the plumber told me he didn't believe there was a leak and that instead it was simply high water table. He told me that the city was keen on investigating anomalies and if "x amount of gallons were being distributed to this street consistently that they would find out why" noting that people have been given notices for having leaky toilets before. Another reason he gave was that the pipes were copper, a soft metal, and if they crack/leak the water pressure bursts them wide open and it goes from a small leak to a swimming pool in a matter of days, it doesn't stay a minor leak for several months (which is how long I've had the house).
But now I'm wondering why, if it is high water table, then why in the heck am I the only one on the street pumping out water?
So I'm looking for advice on how to proceed. Is there a way to confirm the water table? Is the clear water even consistent with that theory? Is there a professional in a certain field that I should be contacting? Thank you
I'm thinking maybe you could call a well driller in your area. Those people are generally knowledgeable about water tables in a given area. They know from experience how far down they need to go to find a natural water source. I'm thinking someone might be able to tell you your area has a high table... in that case your situation would be normal. Just make sure that pump never quits working!
I bet you just got ground water. Your neighbors are discharging into the city sewer.
50 gallons a day? I think that's about 1 minute per hour for a sump pump.
Pull the pump and see if the water settles at higher level without coming out of the sump. If so you need to adjust where the pump is activated.
My parents house sounds like creek in basement after heavy rains, there is drain to street but it's 300 feet, built in the 50's and doesn't work as well as it should. It's usually enough to keep the water out of the basement but they need to keep the pump at higher level or it would be running a lot.
Pull the pump and see if the water settles at higher level without coming out of the sump. If so you need to adjust where the pump is activated.
My parents house sounds like creek in basement after heavy rains, there is drain to street but it's 300 feet, built in the 50's and doesn't work as well as it should. It's usually enough to keep the water out of the basement but they need to keep the pump at higher level or it would be running a lot.
Good suggestion and he could also find a spot outside near the elevation of the sump pump ( unless it’s an 8 or 10 foot elevation difference ) and fig a hole to determine the height of the water table.
Also, some neighbors/adjacent homeowners should know something about ground water issues in that area.
So it's not the side of the meter the city is responsible for then? If so, you bill would have increased when the flow is greatest and the meter would be going working overtime. For some reason we have had what I describe a couple of times at our own home. Fortunately, on the water company's dime.
I have also had at my house something called an intermittent spring. Oddest thing when you've never seen it. Nice lawn...and suddenly bubbles from the soil and water coming up.
Another contributor....are you at the lowest point in your area, the basin for your neighbors?
In the past, when we lived elsewhere, about a mile from our house were homes where we'd drive through and see watering running over the curb or owners gathered in amazement at a few yards filling with water. The only thing they had in common was their age and an extremely cold winter.
And what about your neighbors? Anything there?
What is your soil? Although just when I think clay is impervious...up comes an intermittent spring.
How about any earthquakes, however small, short and on the outskirts.
Subsurface water is a fascinating, and somewhat mystical situation, on occasion. I have been in a shallow ditch, while installing underground utilities across a dry field. I had to jump out quickly, after a previously unknown spring was opened by the backhoe. The ditch went from dry, to 4 ft. of clear water in two minutes. I have drilled a well at 180 FT. with 25 gallon per minute of clear flow. A block away, getting ANY water was a brutal effort for the well driller, and one well ended up being 785 ft. deep, with less than five gallons a minute. I have worked in many areas where the ground water was so close to the surface that only fools installed full depth basements, and homeowners would love to only have a clear trickle of fifty gallons a day, like you describe. In places like that, I have observed water flowing through the cement block joints in the crawlspace walls, and a pump that's cycling 60-100X an hour. I know of a home where the french drain around the base of the footer discharges thousands of gallons an hour, draining out to daylight, in a 3" pipe that's half full of flowing water, 24/7/365.
My only suggestion would be to review exactly how impacted you would be if the pump fails? If it would cause damage, get a second (back-up) pump installed, and think about battery back-up for one of them, in the even of a power loss. Other than that, after dealing with corraling and removing subsurface water for decades, I really think your plumber is right. There is literally no problem to see here. Good luck.
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