Sump Pump Discharge to Dry Well

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Solid

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Hi Folks,

I put this here because it seemed like it would be most appropriate section - hope this is OK.

Last year, I installed a new sump basin and pump in my basement. I replaced an existing 'pit' which consisted of a plastic planter and a 1/3hp pump that was discharging into the sewer system, with a Jackel SF15DR Sump Basin and Liberty 457 pump. The new basin capacity is 15 gallons, and the new pump is 1/2hp. I wanted to add the new basin because there was no cover on the old one, and I upped the power of the pump because I re-routed the discharge, and need to lift the water to the ceiling, and out of the house.

Over the summer, when I was working on this project (digging a the hole in the basement) the area was completely dry. I was actually looking forward to some water, so I could see the system operate (be careful what you wish for)! Well, this fall we got a bunch of rain from hurricane Sandy, and a ton of snow on top that this winter. Spring is right around the corner, and the tons of snow in my yard is starting to melt!

The pump has been working fine, and on a couple of occasions, the pump was emptying the basin every 11 minutes. I don't know if this is too much, or OK - I'm not really worried about that yet. I'm trying to figure out what to do with the discharge water. Currently it empties out onto a splash block, and flows out on to the lawn (currently saturating it). I'm considering burying the discharge and digging a dry well. The plan would be to bury a 4" discharge to an NDS Flo-well that would be about 10ft from the house (that's as far away as I can get). The 1 1/2" pump discharge line would have some sort of ice prevention device where it meets the 4" buried line - something like Basement Systems Ice Guard.

I have a couple worries about doing this. Will the volume of water from my pump overwhelm the dry well and become a problem? Is there a way for me to calculate the maximum amount of water in a worse case scenario? Is this even a good idea? I would be putting the water right back in the ground, instead of on the surface where it would have to filter through the soil, and hopefully be absorbed. Any ideas?
 
Don't know if I would pump water from one pit to basically another. If the sump puts out a considerable amount of water and the gound is already wet the ground around the well will become saturated and stop accepting water. I would extend the discharge line to about 10ft from the street curb , bump the discharge up to 2'' outside. Check with city and local codes before discharging water into or close to the street.
 
Another thing to think about is what kind of soil you have in your yard. If it's sand, that's great. If it's clay, water isn't going to soak in and a Dry Well wouldn't work either because the water would have no where to go.
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

I really can't pump it out to the street, because there is a sidewalk in the way. And, I'm not sure what the rules are as far as that goes, but I can try to check. I wonder if I could tie into the city storm drains? I live in New Hampshire, and the soil here isn't clay, but has a lot of rocks! I think it would drain just fine, but I wonder if the water table would just fill the buried well with water? I was reading about some soil test that can be done, but I can't remember what it's called, or how to get one done.
 
The soil test is probably a "Perk Test" that they do before issuing a Septic Tank Permit. At least that's what they did back in the Dark Ages.
 
Speedbump - That's the name I remember seeing. It seems by your response the test is a little dated? Probably not worth it I suppose...

Really, I just want to get this discharge line out of my sight, and I can't think of any other way to do this. It seems my only options are to go the dry well route, or see if I can connect to the city storm drains, but that will probably cost big money, if it's even allowed here.

This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook installed one in this video, so I figured why not try it myself!
 
You have to remember where the water from the Pump is coming from. The ground under and around your house. So putting the water right back in the ground (if that little Dry Well doesn't fill up first) is just circulating it. You want to get rid of it so your Pump will shut off someday.
 
If the storm drain is on your side of the street you might have a good chance to connect to it. In my old stomping grounds the city did allow you to connect to the storm drain if the drain was on your side of the street , but a licensed plumber had to do the job. A permit had to be pulled and you had to use a approved fitting (inserta tee) to connect to the strom drain.
 
If the storm drain is on your side of the street you might have a good chance to connect to it. In my old stomping grounds the city did allow you to connect to the storm drain if the drain was on your side of the street , but a licensed plumber had to do the job. A permit had to be pulled and you had to use a approved fitting (inserta tee) to connect to the strom drain.

I did a little research, and I figured out that, at least in my neighborhood, the sewer system seems to be tied into the storm drains. While it is on my side of the street, I doubt they let people tie into it. I suppose I can try and ask about it.

The water table is high in this area, and I see several people have sumps, including my next door neighbor. They had Basement Systems come in and do the internal weeping, and they simply pump the water out of the house and into a 4" PVC pipe that that goes underground, and pops back up about 3 feet away from the house. It is capped with a grate, so the water just dispenses out onto the front lawn. Of course, in the winter it is buried in snow and ice, and that's where their 'IceGuard' comes into play:

IceGuard-into-ground-2.jpg
 
Maybe they do things alittle different there, but that's a big no no (tying the storm into sewer) in my area. If your neighbor system works why not do the same. I would extend my discharge more than 3ft. Give the city a call to see if you can tap into the storm drain. a call wouldn't hurt , it might take up a few hrs of your time.
 
IFIXH20 said:
Maybe they do things alittle different there, but that's a big no no (tying the storm into sewer) in my area. If your neighbor system works why not do the same. I would extend my discharge more than 3ft. Give the city a call to see if you can tap into the storm drain. a call wouldn't hurt , it might take up a few hrs of your time.

Yeahs it's not the best idea, but in my code you can have a combined building sewer but not a combined building drain. I wouldn't do either if I didn't have to. If your sewer Backs up and it's raining you're screwed
 
If Solid is correct about the storm & sewer being tied together , I sure hope Backwater Valves are installed on the main lines
 
Thanks IFIXH2O, I will try to contact the city.

Here's a picture of the neighbors setup. I think it is more than 3ft. away from the foundation, but I would put mine further away. There is a sidewalk that you can see in the upper right-hand corner that I wouldn't want to get too close to, because it could cause a hazardous ice condition in the winter.

sump-discharge_zps01b6d733.jpg
 
If Solid is correct about the storm & sewer being tied together , I sure hope Backwater Valves are installed on the main lines

Interesting that you point this out. I don't think there is any backwater device, that I know of, or see on my waste line out to the street (assuming I would see this in my basement?). I was thinking that it would be a good idea to have one installed at some point, and I see some companies will install them, but it is expensive, and I'm not sure that I can afford to do it right now.

I was reading some documents that the city put out about the storm system, and it stated that a good portion of the city is still on a combined system. I think they are trying to separate them, but it is an expensive job (millions). I looked up some GIS mapping in my area, and you can overlay the map with water and sewer lines, and I can see the sewer (on my side of the street) and the manholes/drains are all directly over the sewer. So, I assume it is still combined in my neighborhood.

Instead of guessing, I suppose I should just call them...
 
Don’t intend to mess everyone up by going back to square 1. But why can’t you just tie into gutter drain? Or is that first pic not of your house? They normally have a sleeve going under sidewalk and into street
 
Don’t intend to mess everyone up by going back to square 1. But why can’t you just tie into gutter drain? Or is that first pic not of your house? They normally have a sleeve going under sidewalk and into street

Look at the dates before you reply, and quit creating zombie threads!!!!

THIS THEEAD IS THREE YEARS OLD!!!!!
 
Dang. Sry the stupid emails just show up and I don’t pay attention. I gonna turn off emails. But I do have to say aigh aigh captain.
 
Don’t intend to mess everyone up by going back to square 1. But why can’t you just tie into gutter drain? Or is that first pic not of your house? They normally have a sleeve going under sidewalk and into street
Gutter drain? There is no gutter drain here, and that is my neighbor's house, not mine. I was pumping out to the street via my front lawn and driveway, but that created a very dangerous ice sheet! For what it's worth I ended up burying a drywell (NDS Flo well) and it has been working OK. If there is REALLY heavy rain it fills up and the pump discharges via the overflow, but that doesn't happen that often. It would be great if the city would allow homeowners to connect to the storm drains that run under the street, but they don't seem to care about homeowners with water issues, so there is not much else that I can do.
 
hey Anyways. At least we got a final fix response. Lol sry again. I know 3 years ago
 

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