Hi folks, the drain pipe for our sump pump is buried but the end pokes out of a hills ide into open air. every year, it gets an ice plug in it, so the sump pump can't pump....
The water levels start rising before the ground thaws, so the basement always gets water in it i nthe spring. As son as the pump pipe thaws, it can pump out the water, so everything is OK.. any ideas on how to keep the drain pipe from freezing?
thanks
All of my neighbors who front on the street have sump pump outlets that come out of the curb, I think. That would make them very close to the surface at least near the curb and I don't know if any have ever frozen.
My house is different. I don't know if it was a design feature in my case or not, or conceivably a short cut designed to save the builder money??
But my drain pokes out the side of a hill like yours, about 20 feet from the basement. Inside the pipe goes up to the ceiling, then horizontally to the wall and comes out about a foot or 18 inches abve the ground, with a hard plastic pipe that comes out of the house and ends after about 3 or 4 inches. Then there's a 4" black corrugated pipe that comes out of the ground, goes up about a foot, bends and is pretty much stuck on the 3 or 4 inch pipe. (can't come off, without my bending it. Wind and water can't do it.)
So it's not that cold in Baltimore, but if it ever did freeze or get clogged or crushed, the water would bypass the pipe and pour on the ground. I guess it would soon find it's way back to the sump in that case, but I could also clamp a temporary hose on the thing at that point.
I would think that would make your situation a bit better as the water poured out of your dirt into his driveway. Unless it made the cold air closer to the pipe in your ground. ???
The sump pump is i nthe basment, about 5 fett below grade. The drain pipe comes straight up out of hte sump hole, and goes out a hole inthe foundation wall, still about 3 feet below grade. It runs more or less staright for about 20 feet to open air, with the last 6"or so of pipe exposed. It almsot cetainly has the wrong pitch (as in it pitches back towards the pump instead of towards the open air end), but I cannot tear up the yard to fix it..... It freezes pretty close to the point where it comes out of the ground. As soon as the ground thaws, it works fine... the problem only lasts for a few weeks when the water tabgle rises before the ground thaws....
I've rigged a temporary flex hose that runs out a window, but I;d prefer to see if there is some other permanent way to deal with it (without tearing up the yard)
--JD
Ooops. Just had a brain flash. Just abandon the current hose, relay one much closer to the surface being sure it slopes down. As long as it will drain out reasonably fast it doesn't have to be below frost line.
Harry K
Not at all.
Even if he can't lower the discharge end at all, he can still *raise* some other part of the run. Of course, that might require digging up and reinstalling the entire run, but at least it would get him a proper downward slope to the discharge.
Guys, can't he clamp a hose on to the pipe**, and run the hose down to below the level of the sump pump, the start of the hose, so that it will siphon the water out after the pump stops running. I think a siphon works better the lower the outlet is.
There's probably a known relationship between the amount of water and the maximum diameter for which a siphon will work, but I don't know what that is.
**Make sure no air gets in where the hose is connected to the pipe, or the siphone won't work at allI"m not sure this will work, but it's easy to try, and find out.
Perhaps a little freezes each time the pump runs, and eventually layer over layer fills and clogs the pipe??
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.