Question on Sump Pit

[Sri]

Hi, We have a sump pit and pump in our basement. Because of the heavy rains recently, we are getting water into the sump pit from the drain tiles. The water is still coming into the pit, the pit fills up every

15minutes or so. The problem is, after reaching a particular level, the water level does not raise anymore even though there is water coming into it thru the pipe from drail tiles. It just stops at a particular level. The sump pump is connected to the power source thru floater. When we disconnect the floater and connect the sump pump directly to the power and drain out the water in the pit and again connect it to the floater power, the next time water level raises and reaches a level where the floater kicks off the sump pump. The second time onwards, the water level remains same no matter how much water comes from the pipe connected to drain tiles. Where is this water going? Why does not it raise to a level where the floater kicks off the sump pump? The pit liner is perforated. Is the water going thru these holes into the ground? If so, at some point it water level should raise. But even after an hour of observation, the water level does not raise. Please help us understand whats happening. Thanks.

[John Grabowski]

It sounds as though the water in the pit is leveling off at the level of the ground water. Your water table is probably quite high right now. Be happy that the water is not going higher. Is there any way to adjust the float switch?

[Banty]

It the water level not raising once it gets to the height of the output from the drain tiles? If so, that's because it takes quite a lot of water to fill the tile system.

Banty

[EXT]

Plus most basement floors are built over about 6" of loose gravel. It can take several hours, depending on the water flow, to fill all the gravel under the floor and around the foundation. It is not good to allow the water to fill this area as it will then start soaking in through the concrete or seeping up through cracks and openings, and then it will take quite a while to dry out again adding humidity to the basement which can cause moulds to grow.

For a dry basement keep that water level down in the sump and let the pump remove all that keeps pouring in. Don't play with a system that is working.

[Sri]

Thanks for your reply. There is no way to adjust the float switch for our pump. But because of the heavy rain recently, we had water into our basement. Water was seeping thru the floor cracks and floor-wall joints. Is it because of the ground water level raised at one point? We are not sure if it is the surface water or the ground water. Thanks.

[John Grabowski]

It may be coming in from above, but leveling off at the ground water level. As others have suggested it may be possible that the water is filling up crevices and cavities under your floor. Wait overnight and see how high the water gets.

I grew up in a house that had an underground stream running below it. We always knew what the ground water level was by the water height in our two sump holes. Sometimes it didn't rain for weeks, but we still had water in the sump holes though it was at a lower level.

[mkirsch1]

Maybe the water is being siphoned out?

[Sri]

When we had the water on the basement floor, water coming thru the drain tiles pipe was so fast that the sump pump would turn on every 5 minutes because there was so much water that it was not able to level out. Now the water stopped coming thru the cracks on the floor, but still water keeps coming into the sump pit thru the pipe. Even though we wait overnight, it does not seem to raise at all to a point where it has to drain off. I think we need to wait for one more week and see if the water still stays in the sump pit.

[Sri]

When we had the water on the basement floor, water coming thru the drain tiles pipe was so fast that the sump pump would turn on every 5 minutes because there was so much water that it was not able to level out. Now the water stopped coming thru the cracks on the floor, but still water keeps coming into the sump pit thru the pipe. Even though we wait overnight, it does not seem to raise at all to a point where it has to drain off. I think we need to wait for one more week and see if the water still stays in the sump pit.

[John Grabowski]

It sounds as though that is the level of the ground water. Use a stick and measure it every day to see if it goes down.

[Banty]

Sounds like the ground water level is still high, then.

IT's not unusual for water to be always in the sump pit. IT's just that you haven't experienced rains like the recent ones and such a high water table level.

Banty

[trader4]

How far below the floor is the water when it trips the pump on? If it's set to come on when it's too high, that could contribute to water showing up on the floor in parts of the basement.