I purchased a home a few months ago and my inspector said sump pump was fine. We had a power outage and pump did not come back on after power restored. The water was never a problem till recent heavy rain/snow melt I had. Basement flooded about a foot and a half. After I used a small flotec pump and the drain in basement, it is now dry. I got a new sump pump and turned it on using the existing Pvc setup. Water was being moved to my front yard but not into a drain and yard was already too saturated to handle more and probably just coming right back in. Whoever installed it was a idiot. The water level in the basin did not go down but water was being pumped out. I plan to hook up flexible drain hose and route it to my back yard instead of the small front yard. I will make a dry well and add French drainage to the outside foundation as well as soon as it warms up. My question I guess after this long story is I just want the water level to go down in the sump basin. My thinking is the pipes under concrete floor that are linked to my french tile drain inside basement that feed the sump basin are all backed up with water because of the flood. I want to run sump after its re routed further from house but I'm guessing will take hours to drain completely? Seems like there's a whole lotta water under there and maybe that's why sump basin isn't going down? Sorry if I sound crazy haha any advice would be great.

 

The first step is getting the water away from the home and moving away. If you've been pumping the water nearby to an area that's already saturated the water is probably just flowing back in through your foundation drain. Basically you're just pumping the water in a circle. Once you can move the water away so it doesn't come back your pump will have a chance of winning the battle. How long it takes will just depend on how much water is in the soil around your home trying to get in.

 

The dry well you are thinking of adding must be a long way from the house.

 

Dry wells won't do anything if your soil is saturated, and it sounds like yours is. Need to pump it as far away to a downward slope as possible. Start by being outside and looking up. How are your gutters doing? clogged? Then look down. Where are the downspouts discharging, and is the grade of the soil around your house sloped away from the house? You'd be surprised at what a dump truck of dirt added to the perimeter of your house can do. All of a sudden your sump pump has way less work to do and the electric bill goes down. Start with curing the issue first, before pumping away the symptom.

 

That post is 1 1/2 years old, probably not doing the OP much good at this late date!