Is a sump pump suppose to be in a "pit" in your basement to pull water out of it? Please tell all about them.

Question

My friend's sister wants her to block up the sump pump so it won't turn on and off all the time. I told her it was suppose to be at a level that if water came into her basement, it would suck up the water. It would turn on and off depending on the water level. Please give some advice and help, thank you very much.

Answer 1

Sump Pumps can come in two flavors, a submersible pump and an above ground pump. It is more typical in residential use to use the submersible. You can control the sump pump either manually or automatically. Most applications that have a sump pit will use an automatic control, usually a float attached to the sump pump.
If your friend chooses to raise the level of the sump pump to allow more water into the sump pit, this method will only delay the pump coming on for a few days (or however long it takes for the extra water to leak into the pit). After the water level comes up to the new level, the sump pump should turn on and off as it is currently, so this trick will not help them and will cause them to have more water in their sump pit, leading to increased humidity in the house. They will also be cutting down on the surge capacity (ability to handle higher inflow rates of water like during a storm) by raising the sump pump.

Answer 2

No way should it be turned off. The sump or pit is where ground water is drained to that surrounds the basement. Without the sump, water would enter the basement in other locations and make a general mess of the space.

If the pump has been installed without a check valve, something that keeps the pumped water from reentering the sump, then it will run almost constantly. If there is a lot of water entering the sump and it is getting pumped out - this is good.

A professional plumber might be needed to see if there is a way to make the pumping quieter.

Good Luck.

Answer 3

The sump pump is located below the level of the foundation of the house for a reason. It prevents the water below the house from coming into the basement, also water is routed from around the house to the sump pump, and then the sump relocates the water. This will cause the sump to turn on and off as needed, especially when it rains. Now if you want you can cover the hole, but you must accommodate the pipes that go in and come out of the hole, the cover may muffle some of the noise if that is a problem.

Answer 4

it should have a float swith on it that when the water level rises to a point it turns on and when it sucks the water level down it shuts off. if it is coming on and off there is a reason why- water coming in. shutting it off could be bad.

Answer 5

You are correct. Her thinking will create a swimming pool.