Cellar drain

["Blattus Slaf]

I have this 1940's era house. It has a cellar drain in the cement floor that goes all around the basement and out to a banking across the driveway. There is another pipe about a foot off the floor coming in the north wall that is draining water into my cellar drain and it goes back out the outside drain. The odd thing is that this drain pipe coming into the north wall almost never stops running. I think it stopped for one month late last summer. For 11 months it continuously runs. It runs faster during spring thaws and after heave rains. Well my 2 questions are, why didn't they route this drain around the outside of the building when they put it in? And where the hell is all the water coming from? It's annoying hearing it run all the time. This can't be a common set up.

[ransley]

It might be a drain tile system, you are lucky you dont pay to pump it out, it seems to be working since you dont flood.

[alphaz]

My guess is that the drain pipe is there to ease the backup of water from the earth behind your basement wall, and it was probably installed after the basement was constructed. If the incoming water is taken out through the floor drains no problem. Noise! Have you considered lining the walls and floor as ie. a DIY project using- Platon Damp Damp-Proofing membrane, put in a search in Google for Platon. Very easy to install and particularly as your basement already has the necessary drainage. The cmpleated project will give you a completely dry habitable basement for very little cost. Regards Joe. (inventor of the Platon Sealed System)

[hallerb]

ideally you want to install a new line to daylight well away from home, with enough pitch to naturally drain

[hallerb]

ts bad to send ground water into sewers, in a heavy rain it can back up and flood your basement and also flood the sewer plant, causing raw sewage release down streams and creeks

["Blattus Slaf]

My basement is dry. The water comes in the north wall drain and dumps into the cellar drain inside a pipe. My wood stove is in the basement and it is really dry.