I'm at wits ends and looking for advice on who to call. We've owned this home for 7+ years and to our knowledge the sump pump never went off (I didn't even really know I had one). My previous homes never had one so it was, on that level, a pleasant discovery. Otherwise presumably the problem I describe below would be worse Last week after some light rain the pump started going off and by the time it was noticed it was every 2 min and was dumping ~8 gallons right next to the house. We surmised that we were feeding the problem and attached a pool hose to move the water to the street where it runs 300 yards to the city drainage system. This stemmed the tide and slowed the pump running from every 2 min down to ~every 15 min and ~6 gallons. This rate has been mostly static for six days now and the water is still being pumped to the street. How is it possible that after 7 years of nothing it's suddenly going off constantly for a week. We have not had a lot of rain, we had a dry winter here (although a wet winter in the mountains). What do I check? Who do I call? BTW, the city has been out twice and both times confirmed that there was not a leak in our water and they had no known leaks in their system. I would really like to know where in the yellow pages I turn for help.

I recently purchase a home in an area that has lots of iron in the water. The system in the house is approx. 20 years old and is not working well, based on what's coming out of the taps! I'd like to replace the system with an up-to-date one, but have not found any review sites to check out what is available. Every water treatment business in the area has different products- all of which are "the best". Can anybody help me with a link to reviews of these systems, or recommendations on which manufacturers' products are good and which should be avoided? All help most appreciated!:D