In article . com, "grodenhiATgmailDOTcom" wrote:

I'll look into running it say 20 feet (which is about 2/3 of my front
yard) away from the house.

Why stop there? The farther away you can get it, the better.

What is considered "normal running" for a sump pump?

Depends a lot on how wet your ground is, but 5 to 10 seconds every 5 minutes
is waaaaay too much. The problem there isn't really so much the frequency, but
the extremely short duration. Much better to have it run longer, less often.

I'll definitely see if I can adjust the float switch to
run less often. I guess I'm trying to gauge the importance of my
getting a backup pump (either battery or water pressure based), and

How important is it to you, to keep your basement from flooding? Homeowner's
insurance may or may not pay for that... and, in any event, the cost of a
battery backup system (e.g. Basement Watchdog) is probably less than your
deductible.

Get one.

how much worry and effort I want to put into this (and just how much
this pump is needed). My house and my neighbors is at the top oh a
high point along the road, why would my lot have a higher water table
than anyone else's?

Maybe your gutters aren't dumping your rainwater far enough away from the
foundation... or maybe your neighbor's gutters drain into your yard.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.