Hello all,
Is it better to set the drain of a whole-house water filter (which does its backwash every 3 days or so) to empty into a sump, or to bypass it? What I'm asking is whether its good to keep a sump pump exercised - otherwise it might not be used more than a few times a year and could just dry up and stop working when its needed.
The sump pump has a diaphragm pressure switch, rather than a float, if that makes a difference.
Many thanks!
Dean
It can't hurt. That is really what it is for. Ours serves the furnace - a/c condensation for a similar purpose, which lets it cycle from time to time. Besides, I kinda like to hear it hum every now and then.
RonB
Is a whole-house water filter the same as a sump pump?
"Backwash" confuses me too.
I don't know if they "need" to be exercised, but in my stacked-stone-foundation-dirt-floor-basement it gets used every time it rains. Even in the winter it goes on whenever the temperature hits 33 degrees or the sun melts the frozen crust of ice around the edge of the house. Maybe it's the use it gets, I don't know, but it's the same cheapo float sump pump that I bought when I first moved into the house 25 years ago.
mm wrote the following:
No
The whole house filter automatically backwashes itself, like a manual backwash of a pool filter.
Someone said these two aren't the same thing. ??
My sump pump wore out after 15 years, but only because the metal pipe rusted out at the water line. Everythign else worked. The new one has a plastic pipe.
mm wrote the following:
I did. I have a whole house filter but not a sump pump. A whole house filter filters (strains) the domestic water coming into the house due to a high ground water table. In the OPs case the filter cleans it self and has to dump the dirty water somewhere to be pumped out of the house, i.e. the sump pump.
mm wrote the following:
Sorry if you got my last message. There was an error because moves something around but left a part of the sentence.
I did. I have a whole house filter but not a sump pump. A whole house filter filters (strains) the domestic water coming into the house. A sump pump is buried in a hole in the basement and removes water from the house so it doesn't flood due to a high ground water table. In the OPs case the filter cleans it self and has to dump the dirty water somewhere to be pumped out of the house, i.e. the sump pump.
Thanks. That explains it.
I appreciate your second one too. Thanks a lot.
Check your codes...Some states like Maine it is illegal to put it in a cellar drain...Same goes for the washing machine..It must go into the septic system...The environuts have taken over here...LOL...
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