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Joseph Meehan

wrote:
During last rain storm we had water backed into our basement through
the sump pit.......it was caused by the pump not working for over four
hours due to loss of power. We had significant damage that was also
not covered by our insurance. We certainly don't want to repeat this
incidence. Besides having some type of a back-up power supply, what
other inexpensive options do I have? One that comes to mind is may be
building a safety dam around the sump pit (say 3 ft X 3 ft X 1ft tall)
that would contain the water for a brief period of time in case of
extended power loss....does any one of you have any creative / simple
ideas?

Bad idea. What would happen is you would have one foot of water filling
your basement BEFORE the sump pump could start getting rid of it.

Some sort of backup is what you want and maybe some sort of work outside
to make sure no water from the roof or from somewhere up hill from your home
ends up close to your foundation. Get the water away from your home before
it gets to the sump pump.

You have a choice of manual (not a very good choice unless you have a
high school football team to power it.) Or battery (the likely choice for
most people, or water powered. If you have city water, it can actually be
used to pump water. Of course if you are on a domestic well, that would not
be a good choice. Then there are generators. They can sever many uses. A
little time on the pump, some time on the frig and freezer and maybe a
little time two watch TV and see the news reports of the power outage and
flooding.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit