On Sat, 08 Mar 2014 09:35:30 -0500, Art Todesco
wrote:

On 3/7/2014 4:50 PM, wrote:
On Fri, 07 Mar 2014 19:44:01 +0000, Arnold2303
wrote:

replying to Smarty, Arnold2303 wrote:
nobody wrote:

I have a considerable amount of water enter my basement sump pump pit when
it rains heavily, and a husky submersible pump which can pump several
thousand gallons of water per hour if needed when the pit begins to fill.
The pump is powered by 110V current, backed up by an automatic emergency
(natural gas powered) generator, so I feel quite confident I will be able
to
pump water under most conditions.
The concern I have is if the pump fails.
I want to install a second pump which will kick in if the water level
rises
in the pit high enough to trigger it. My current thought would be to mount
it above the current pump, and perhaps share the same outlet / discharge
pipe. I'm not sure this is a correct or optimal arrangement, or if there
is
some better way of hooking up a second / backup pump. An alternative would
be to fit 2 pumps at the same height into the pit, let both operate
whenever
water level rises, and then assume that either or both of the pumps will
be
working when I really need them.
The basement is finished with a lot of relatively expensive tools,
furniture, etc. so I want this to be done right. I welcome any advice or
opinions, and thank you in advance for your assistance.
Smarty



SMARTY, did you ever install your dual sumps? How did it work out. I am
in your situation... I have a natural gas backup generator. I want to get
a backup sump fore same reasons you have/had.



I would definitely have separate discharge pipes installed, and run
the 2 pumps on sparate circuits. I would set the float switch on one
pump a bit higher than the other. I would LIKELY use 2 different sized
pumps - the low level pump being slightly lower capacity than the high
level pump. For most of the year your, say, 1/3 HP pump can handle the
flow with no problem - and runs on lower current, with fewer cycles.
If the little guy cannot do the job, big brother ( 1/2hp or more)
kicks in - and if the little guy fails, big brother is up to the job,
regardless.
You NEED separate circuits so if the one pump fails and draws
excessive current, tripping the breaker, the second pump is not
impacted. You need separate discharges so if one gets blocked, making
the one pump in-effective, the second pump still has a chance. Tying
both pumps to one discharge means if the discharge gets plugged the
one pump just pumps the water back through the other pump - right back
to the sump where it started.


All good points. In my old house, I had an AC pump and a DC battery
operated pump. Both were submersible. As mentioned, the AC pump was
set to kick in 1st and at the higher level, the DC pump. I had 2
separate discharge pipes. Outside, the pipes, loosely, went into a 4",
running downhill to the back of the yard. By loosely, I mean, not
actually connected. If something should freeze, the water would just
bubble up about 3 or 4' from the house. But with the good slope that I
had, it never froze up. In my present house, living on a mountain, I
have no sump. A friend once asked what I would do if water went into
the basement. As one side is at ground level, I told him that I would
just open the door and let gravity take over.
As a matter of principal I will never buy a house that depends on a
sump pump to keep the basement dry.

The house I grew up in was at the low point of the street (the street
was about 8 inches lower than the next catch basin in front of our
house), and the main floor was about a foot or so lower than the
street, with the lot sloping back to a bank (drop-off) to the riover
flats.
In a heavy rain, the street would fill with water, and trucks going by
(or even cars) would cause a wake that splashed water over to the
house. The water would run in the front door, across the linoleum
living room floor, down the basement stairs, and out the cellar drain
to the river flats.
Dad pured a retaining wall along the front of the house, against the
foundation and extending up a foot or so above foundation level, and
poured a concrete front poach about 8 inches higher than the living
room floor, so you had to step down going in - with a raised threshold
lip. A brick "railing" around the porch acted as a breakwater, and we
had a drop-in "floodgate" that blocked the entrance in rainy weather.
Those modifications kept the water out of the house on all but the
very worst rainstorms.

Dad bought that house for $2000 in 1957. It was built before
confederation (I think it was 87 years old when he bought it).
He sold it in 1975 and it was demolished and replaced by several
townhouses just last year.

Both my first house and this one are at the high point of the street,
in sand, on an open gravel bottom with no sump.