Sump Pumps & Backup Pumps in Indianapolis

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Why do you need a sump pump? Whenever it rains, water absorbs into the soil around your house. If you have a basement or crawlspace, this water can leak through cracks in the foundation and cause flooding.

There are many methods of waterproofing your foundation, but the best way to prevent floods in your home is to ensure you have a sump pump installed in your basement.

There are two main types of sump pumps. First, submersible sump pumps are installed inside the basin and become “submerged” in the water. Second, pedestal sump pumps are installed above the basin. Both submersible and pedestal sump pumps operate similarly by pumping water from the basin once it has reached a certain level.

Before installing a sump pump, it is best to hire a professional plumber to ensure that the sump pump properly drains water from your home.

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Sump Pump Repair

Sump pumps can suffer from a number of common problems. One of the most common problems is when the sump pump basin is overflowing.

Most of these, however, are easily repairable and include:

Sump pump or discharge pipe is clogged

Sump pump itself or discharge lines are frozen

Power has been lost to the sump pump

Sump pump switch is not functioning properly

Additionally, the sump pump basin may not be filling up with any water, even during heavy rain. This often occurs when the sump pump basin has not been installed correctly.

Many common sump pump problems can be remedied quickly, but others may require expert attention. In order to detect possible problems before a repair is necessary, you should have your sump pump system inspected regularly (at least once a year).

Sump Pump Replacement

On average, a sump pump lasts for about 10 years. However, with proper maintenance and regular inspections, you may be able to get a few more years.

The unfortunate reality is that no matter how well you take care of your sump pump, eventually, it will need to be replaced.

To determine whether your sump pump needs to be replaced or repaired requires troubleshooting for all possible problems. This means ensuring that power is running to the sump pump, there are no clogs, the discharge pipe hasn’t frozen, the basin is installed correctly, and that the switches and valves are operating correctly.

While you can check for some of these problems pretty easily, others require a full inspection by a professional plumber. They will be able to tell you if your sump pump is repairable or if it needs to be replaced.

Battery Backup Sump Pump Installation

Battery backup sump pumps are one of the most effective ways to prevent flooding. If the sump pump stops working, the battery backup ensures that the water in the sump pump basin is discharged properly.

This is especially useful if your home loses power. Because the sump pump uses electricity to pump the water from the basin, a loss of power means that your sump pump stops working.

However, if you have a battery backup sump pump, it will continue pumping water out of the basin even when the power goes out. Just make sure that you keep it charged. A loss of power and a dead battery is a recipe for disaster.

When selecting a battery backup sump pump, there are three things to consider:

Total cost of the battery backup sump pump and its installation
Battery capacity, or how long the battery can last
Water pumping capacity, or the amount of water that can be pumped in a given amount of time (usually measured as gallons per hour, or GPH).

Sewage Grinder Pump Repair

Where a sump pump discharges water, the sewage grinder pumps (or sewage pumps) remove solid and liquid waste. As the name suggests, the sewage grinder pumps grind sewage down until it is fine enough to be pumped out of the house with water or other liquid waste.

Like sump pumps, sewage pumps experience minor problems that can be easily repaired, Faulty switches or valves can cause a sewage pump to malfunction, loss of power will disable the pump unless it has a battery backup, and sump or sewage pumps will freeze in cold weather if they are not buried beneath the frost line.

Sewage pumps also experience clotting when a large piece of food or other debris gets caught in the grinder. Then smaller debris and slit build-up damage the grinder.

While cleaning the grinder is not a difficult process, it is best left to experienced plumbers who can remove all large debris as well as any silt that has built up. Yearly sewage pipe inspections performed greatly reduce the chance of malfunctions and clotting.

Sewage Pump Replacement

A residential sewage pump typically lasts for around 5 to 7 years before it needs to be replaced. Commercial versions may last up to 15 years, but they are substantially more expensive and are often much more powerful than what is needed for a single-family home.

As with sump pumps, regular inspections can help to ensure that you are able to get the most life out of your sewage grinder as possible. It’s recommended that you have your sewage grinder inspected at least once a year.

Silt and other smaller debris will naturally build up. Even if your sewage grinder pump appears to be running as normal, there may be an unseen problem building up. If silt is left within a sewage grinder for an extended period, the grinder will begin breaking from the inside out.

Once a problem is detected, it may be too late to save the grinder. Then a fairly inexpensive repair could become a costly replacement. If you’ve never had your sewage grinder pump inspected, there’s never been a better time than now.

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