In a room of the finished basement I could feel that the floor was not solid. I pulled up the flooring and discovered this. There was maybe, an inch or so of standing water, pebbles and a leaf.
I think it may be a sump pit, but there is no sump pump. I have had no issue with flooding in the daylight basement in the 4 years it has been occupied.
I have an appointment with a waterproofing company in the coming weeks, but I was hoping someone here could give me some in sight to what I may be dealing with here?
It looks like part of the foundation drain system. Look at it after some heavy rain. You might see water coming out of two of the pipes and draining away via the third. I don't like that you mentioned finding a leaf. That means they could be from the downspouts which could be dangerous if the drain pipe ever clogs.
It could also be the location of a sump pump that was used when the basement was unfinished. The previous owner may have converted to a different sump system when he finished the basement.
Look above the pit and see if you can find the exit point for the previous plumbing.
Do you know if you have a sump pump now?
Connect up a garden hose to a faucet and stick the end up one of those corrugated pipes at least five feet if possible. Turn on the water. If all the water comes right back out into the pit then you probably have a regular perimeter drain pipe dumping into the pit. Try the next corrugated pipe, etc.
Another thing you could do is have someone do a video examination of each pipe. If the pipe shows perforations all along its length and comes to a sudden 90 degree bend that the camera snake won't go around, that would suggest that the pipe is a perimeter drain pipe.
Pull off the off white cover over the fourth opening dumping into the pit. Try the garden hose up that opening also.
If at least one of those pipes carries unlimited water away from that pit then you don't need a sump pump. Still, the pit should remain accessible, like, not covered over with wall to wall carpeting.
The basement is a day light basement and this is in the corner of a finished room on the "daylight" side. There is no pump system in the basement. There is drain in the other corner of the basement in the utility room. No signs of flooding ever.
I am sure I could construct a cover for opening or shelf covering, but I am still concerned with moisture, mold etc.
My guess is that the builder poured a sump pit/foundation drain, found they didn't need it.
Could also be a roughed-in under slab radon system (depending on where you're located).
In my area (SE Pennsylvania) it's becoming more common for these to be roughed in when the basement is poured: if you need it, it's there: if you don't need it, you don't worry about it.
I do have a radon system in the other section of the basement in the other end of the basement int the utility room. Just seems odd there is a small amount of water and no flooding in the years it has been occupied
I am installing a new jet pump and it will be positioned as per the picture below. This position makes viewing the pressure gauge very difficult. Does anyone know if I can just turn it so as to be able to read it better. I would probably want it about 90 degrees counterclockwise OR 270 degrees clockwise. I have never done it before and I don't want to break it, damage the pump threads or compromise the seal.
How would I do this?
[img]https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.doityourselft.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/img_20210408_085756444_572f2dfd33d6557aed2d933b863871a7395362f2.jpg[/img]
[img]https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.doityourselft.com-vbulletin/1500x2000/img_20210408_085921821_fc2e724dcd020d4a081ec77f9b91c2f77f791ed8.jpg[/img]
We just purchased another house in the south and it had a 1 horse power Sears jet pump connected to a 30 gallon tanks with a hose bib. The pump bearings are seized and the case is rusted. I took it off the well and measured the depth of the well to be 15 feet. The water table is the area starts at 5 feet, and I was able to measure the water level in the well at about 6 feet.
What I would like to do is get a new pump and plumb in and irrigation system with multiple zones. My front yard is 2900 sq feet and the back yard is 3000 sq feet. This well has done in the sixties when the original owner pounded it in by hand to get water for his green house. He passed away a few years ago and the neighbors who have lived here for decades don’t know much about the well but he used it to water all his plants and garden.
I have no idea how fast the well will recover. I was thinking of getting a 1.5 horsepower pump and using it to fill the holding tank and then run a lawn sprinkler off it to see how it recovers, but I’m not sure if that’s the best way to do it.
ideally, I’d add a start relay to the new pump so the sprinkler controller and start the pump on demand, and cycle through the zones. The alternative to using this well is asking the city to add a new meter for an irrigation system so I don’t pay the sewer fees on the water used...
Any input would be appreciated.
04-15-21, 05:06 PM
