Hi,
My basement gets some water after heavy snow or rain- not really much, but some puddles here and there. I don't have a sump pump and digging a pit in concrete does not sound appealing to me. I saw there are portable pumps listed as "submersible utility pumps", but having done some search I found they may need some minimum level of water to start working. I appreciate if anyone knows a portable model that can start working at a really low water level, say less than
0.5-1"?

 

Not sure if your looking for a pump that will start on it own but my suggestion for water that low is to use a wet/dry vac.

 

Most pumps need a minimum of a few inches of water to even get going.
However there are some switches out there that can be set on the floor and trigger the pump to come on at less than an 1/8" of water, but the pump will still be set down in some type of sump or pit.

Other than that I don't think there is a pump that can do what you are asking.
A shop vac would be my thought also, on getting up water off the floor at less than a few inches deep.

 

What you are looking for is a vacuum as Tolyn suggested.

A sump pump operates with an impeller which must have a constant head of water above it to work.
This is why sump pits are mandatory for this style of pump.

"Unappealing" work is what contractors were invented for!

 

Thanks everyone for the replies. Pardon my ignorance, but should it be a special type of vac that can suck water? Where would the water go?

 

Get a shop vac that is rated for wet/dry. On many models you remove the filter cartridge before vacuuming water, and most have a ball inside that will float up and block off the motor when the tank is full. Some models have a pump out feature where you just hook a garden hose to the vacuum and it will pump the water up and out. Models without the pump will require you to take the vacuum to where you can drain.

 

Just to be clear.
A sump pump sits idle, installed to automatically start to pump out water whenever needed.
A vacuum will allow you to pick up the water manually with the hose and nozzle attachment and then you must dump it out of the canister when it is full.
You can only use a vacuum until the canister is full then it must be emptied by hand.

 

Thanks all, people, for your input. I've ordered Shop Vac "pump vac"- a wet/dry vacuum with a built-in pump and provisions to attach a garden hose, as Pilot Dane
mentioned. It must be a new model and it does not have any user reviews though. When it arrives and I'll try it (probably after next major snowstorm on East Coast followed by a warm up) I'll share my experience.

 

Hi, again,
Just wanted to share my experience in case someone else will be looking for a similar thing. I've bought a dry/vet vac with a built-in pump as some of you suggested. It does suck the water from the floor and pump it out through a garden hose, although the outgoing stream is not as strong as it was shown on the manufacturer's video. In my case, I have a toilet in my basement, so I taped there the end of the garden hose. The internal pump requires a few inches of water level to work. So, when I done, I had to carry the vac with the remaining water to the restroom to empty it (not a big deal). Overall, I am satisfied- for around $150 I got a manual alternative to a sump pump, and I did not have to make a pit in the concrete. For small jobs I feel it is a good solution.