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?

The safety dam will also keep water from draining into the sump pit
like if you have a plumbing leak.

There are back-up pumps that are powered by water here is just one
example:
http://www2.acehardwareoutlet.com/(m...Source=froogle

search for 'water powered sump pump'

These are probably not good back ups if you have well water since your
well pump won't work in a power outage either.