Sump Pump drain

[woobie82]

We moved into our house about 10 months ago. We knew when purchasing a sump pump was installed into a basement closet where they had issues with a wet basement (they/we believe it is from a high water table). So thankfully, we have no problems with water in the basement.

The drain was only run to just outside the house-- the pipe is not extended through the yard, to the end of the yard/street.

So, when it empties, the water is pumped out fairly forcefully, and results in the water and mud from a flower bed rushing over/through a wall, and leaving a mess on the driveway.

Is extending the pipe the entire length of the yard (about 30 feet) my only option?

Thanks for the help!

[LazyPup]

The best and most permanent solution would definite by to run a line to the street storm drain.

If you do so, it would be best to use the 4 inch flexible drainage line. That line is very inexpensive. ( I buy 75 ft coils for $36 retail)

Typically sump pumps have 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 discharge lines. The discharge capacity of the pump is greatly effected by both the height it must lift the water and the lenght of the line. By feeding it into the larger line you would not loose effectiveness on the pump.

Another alternative, although limited in effect, would be to put a bed of gravel near the disharge port to absorb the force and reduce the erosion effect.

[woobie82]

Thanks Pup...

Second part first...that was sort of what I was thinking, using gravel/stones. The pump, basement floor level, rises up the wall about 3 or 3 1/2 feet. The closet that had the water is underneath the front porch, so this is where the pipe emerges, about 8" above ground level. Right now, it is only the piece of 1 1/4" PVC from the wall, about 1' of pipe. My thought was use 1 10' piece of PVC (about the length of the flower bed. Not sure if this would work, but drill weep holes every 6 inches or so in the pipe, so that the entire force of the water would not be flowing from the end of the pipe??

For the other...maybe a silly question. As you noted, it is 1 1/4" PVC. How would I use the 4" flex line with this-- just although the open end of the PVC to flow directly into the drain line? I would assume then, just add a piece of 4" PVC to the end, where the line would emerge from the lawn, allowing it to drain to the street (similar to extending gutter drains)?

Thanks for the advice!!

[LazyPup]

It sounds like you should have no problems at all. Typically a 1/3 HP sump pump will disharge about 30 gal/min into an 1 1/2 line with a 10 foot lift. There is a slight reduction in capacity when using an 1 1/4 discharge line, but given that your lift is only 3.5 to 4 feet it will probably work out about the same.

I would make a couple suggestions on that line. At a comfortable point above the sump you might consider cutting the line, then coupling it with a rubber fernco coupling or a PVC union, That would allow a point of disconnect so you would be able to lift the pump out of the sump for service.

I would consider using a sanitary Combo to make the 90 from vertical to horizontal. You could attach the side inlet to the vertical from the pump and the downstream end on the horizontal line going through the wall. On the open end of the Combo attach a cleanout fitting.

If the line is passing though a masonary wall you are required to sleeve the pipe. This is a very simple process. Get another piece of PVC two sizes bigger in diameter and long enough to reach through the wall and extend 3 to 4 inches on either side. The pipe may be sealed to the masonary by any convenient means, morar is often used but expansion foam is quicker. You pass the desired pipe through the sleeve, then seal the opening between the inside of the sleeve and the outside of the desired pipe with expansion foam. Be sure you support the pipe to insure a 1/4 inch per foot pitch downward in the downstream direction. This is very important on sump pump lines because they are above grade and subject to freezing if water is trapped in them.

Due to the velocity of the water flow i don't believe drilling holes in the pipe would have much effect and could cause another problem. If the water is discharged tooo close to the foundation wall it could seep down the outside of the foundation and work its way back into the structure. It ia alwasy best to divert both sump pumps and down spouts well away from the foundation.

When connecting the 1 1/4 to the 4 inch flex you could put a 1/8 bend on the end of the PVC to give a 45 deg down angle, then put a short stub on the end of the PVC to direct the water down into the 4 inch flex.

When laying the 4 inch flex make sure it has a miniumum of 1/8 inch per foot pitch toward the street.

On the discharge end at the street you could simply leave a few inches of the flex extending out, but i perfer to put a short length of 4 inch PVC shedule 20, 40 or DWV grade,,that is not critical. If if is in a part of the landscape where its subject to heavy lawnmower traffic I like to form a little box and pour a small concrete pad aroung the opening. An 80lb bag of sackrete should be plenty.