The "BEST" solution to avoid getting water in the house from a leaky
hot water heater would be to put the hot water heater outside the house
in a location that is graded such the water flows away from the house.
Foolproof. Can't fail.

If that's not feasible, the next "BEST" solution would be to find the
balance between a sump and a sump pump such that flow rate of the pump
just slightly exceeds the discharge rate of the leaking hot water
heater. Since you can't predict the discharge rate of the leaky heater,
you'll have to plan for the worst case.

Let's assume a catastrophic failure of a 50 gal heater. When the unit
bursts and all the water spews forth instantaneously, you'll need a set
up that is somewhere beween a very small sump with a 50 "gallon per
instant" pump and a 50 gallon sump with a pump that takes it's sweet
time moving the water out of the house. Keep in mind that the water
heater and the sump have to be positioned in such a manner that
regardless of where the water leaks from, it ends up in the sump.

I guess I would opt for a 50 gallon sump with the heater installed
inside the sump. Seems like the most failsafe way to contain the water
until the pump can move it to an outside location.

OK, I'll bet you think I'm kidding. Alas, if you really want to avoid
getting any water on your floor in the future, you have to plan for the
worst case. Other than that, the "BEST" you can hope for is that a
smaller sump and sump pump will suffice for whatever type of leak
actually occurs. Think back to your original problem. How fast did the
water leak out of the heater? If you know that answer, and feel safe
assuming that that is the most probable rate of discharge, then find
the combination of sump and sump pump to meet that critera, keeping in
mind that the water has to actually end up in the sump in order for the
pump to move it out of the house.

wrote:
Hello,

My water heater rusted and leaked and spewed water all over my nice
floor. It has a "pan" underneath it, but this was not able to contain
all the water that spewed out. I have a new water heater now, with a
new pan underneath, but I'm trying to avoid this from happening again.
I'm wondering if there is some sort of a "sup-pump" that I can use to
take the water out of the house when the new water heater leaks? I'm
told that there are moisture alarms, but are they any good? This still
will not take the water away if the water heater leaks. I'm open to
the "BEST" solution...something that will avoid this situation in the
future.


Thanks.