storage of spare sump pump

[larry]

I live in Ohio not far from cinci and have a sump that collects and pumps water almost comstantly. It pumps so often that my pumps give up the ghost and quit in just 18 months or two years. Usually it happens in the dead of night or after all stores are closed for the weekend so I wind up cleaning a flooded basement not deep just an inch or two.So after a few floods I learned my lesson and bought a spare pump to keep on hand. Last week my pump failed (bad switch) I was able to swap pumps with NO (hurray) flood and fix the pump. Now to my question Should I swap pumps again? thus keeping the spare pump with lesser wear in reserve. Or should I just put the used pump in storage for when I need it? In any case how should I prepare the pump to be stored? I have no clue about what to do to store it.

Larry in cinci

[ransley]

Why dont you find the cause of excessive water and try to fix it, is it city water meaning a main break, septic, or ground water, get it tested. Why not have 2 pumps in the pit one set to go off at a higher level if the old one fails. Get a better pump , I have one that works alot every day and its maybe 80 yrs old. There is homeowner stuff, and commercial.

[mm]

Wandering around open and wooded areas hundreds of yards from homes or buildings in the near suburbs, I came across a two-inch pipe, horizontal, with no valve iirc, and the water was coming out 3 or 4 feet before dropping 8 inches.

We were doing something 150 years away and had been waiting 6 months for the dry season for the swampy area to dry up. It was the dry season for months now, but it wouldn't dry up, because of this pipe that flooded at least an acre. It had been running I think at least for a year.

I called the county, and they told me to call the city (which is in charge of water, I think) and becaus I didn't have an address, they told me to call the county. I called the county, and I don't remember anymore but I told them there was no address because it was a half mile from any road. I didn't have to ask for a supervisor iirc, and it was another month before I was there again, and it was stopped.

I got there by parking on the side of an expressway and going through the holes in the fence.

[hallerb]

I would do the following, attempt to find and correct the source of the water. if you live where city water is present they will come and check it for chlorine, which would indicate its their leak. Does the water change with the seasons?

I would certinally add a second sump pump with seperate drain, and where does the water drain too? any chance its just going in a circle?

if a pump failure can damage your home get this fixed and add a second pump or at least a battery or water powered back up pump.

you might not be home when it fails the next time:(

[aemeijers]

Plug the pipe in the woods, and wait a few hours for the sound of screaming and lots of trucks pulling up?

-- aem sends...