Help me ID parts of this sump pump drain system outside my house. (If I
did this right, you should be able to click on below and see photo) And
why it works.. or doesn't work the way it does...

http://photos12.flickr.com/15456715_6ea7a29b0d.jpg

It is the sump pump drain/setup outside my home (1970's cheaply built
subdivision home in upper midwest)

Ignore wiring you see, it is TV cable & AC power and not related to
drain system.

On top is the outlet from the basement, black corregated pipe connected
to the outlet from the house. It runs into top of 4" pipe which comes
up out of ground. The 2" "T" coming off to the right is where the
water has always come out, since I have owned the house (7 years)
Under that is a makeshift PVC drain that I fashioned last year, it goes
underground and drains out on lawn 20 feet from house. I did that as a
temp measure to get water from the base of house until I came up with
better plan.

When I looked down the 4" pipe that goes into the ground, I saw it went
down maybe 18" and then seemed to have an elbow and seemed to lead away
from the house foundation.

My question is this: Why does the water come out the top "T", I assume
the pipe leading into the ground was at one time a way for water to be
carried from the home... but perhaps it is plugged or something, which
causes the water to come out the top "T", which I am guessing could
have been a relif type outlet in the event the main drain is clogged.
Is that right? Is there any other reason for that pipe to exist? I
have never found any kind of outlet for that pipe out on the lawn.

The fact that it's a 4" pipe that the sump goes into would suggest that
it's possible it was tied into the sanitary sewer system, perhaps
through a clean out fitting. That is not allowed in most areas.
However the fact that water won't go in it argues against that. What's
on the other side of the basement wall? Does the sewer exit through
that wall in that location? If not, then it's probably not tied into
the sewer. Could be just a whacko hook up to an underground drywell
that failed, though it's unusual to use 4" pipe for that.

But probably doesn't matter. If you have a good discharge spot 20 ft
away, I'd just permanently use that.

Sump pumps are not rocket science. You run a pipe to a place where it can
drain away from the house to a ditch, low area or whatever. If it drains to
an area that the water will pool over the outlet, install an air relief at
the high point to prevent syphoning water back into your sump when the pump
shuts off.

I would re-pipe the whole thing with new pipe -- get rid of the corrugated
section, it is probably ready to fail. Keep the pipe minimum 1 1/4" to 1
1/2" diameter. Run underground where practical. Also dig down and find out
where that old pipe is running. If it is a sewer line it should be
terminated properly.


"Jack" wrote in message
ups.com...
Help me ID parts of this sump pump drain system outside my house. (If I
did this right, you should be able to click on below and see photo) And
why it works.. or doesn't work the way it does...

http://photos12.flickr.com/15456715_6ea7a29b0d.jpg

It is the sump pump drain/setup outside my home (1970's cheaply built
subdivision home in upper midwest)

Ignore wiring you see, it is TV cable & AC power and not related to
drain system.

On top is the outlet from the basement, black corregated pipe connected
to the outlet from the house. It runs into top of 4" pipe which comes
up out of ground. The 2" "T" coming off to the right is where the
water has always come out, since I have owned the house (7 years)
Under that is a makeshift PVC drain that I fashioned last year, it goes
underground and drains out on lawn 20 feet from house. I did that as a
temp measure to get water from the base of house until I came up with
better plan.

When I looked down the 4" pipe that goes into the ground, I saw it went
down maybe 18" and then seemed to have an elbow and seemed to lead away
from the house foundation.

My question is this: Why does the water come out the top "T", I assume
the pipe leading into the ground was at one time a way for water to be
carried from the home... but perhaps it is plugged or something, which
causes the water to come out the top "T", which I am guessing could
have been a relif type outlet in the event the main drain is clogged.
Is that right? Is there any other reason for that pipe to exist? I
have never found any kind of outlet for that pipe out on the lawn.

It actually my be a 3" pipe now that I think about it, not sure that is
relevant.

On the other side of the basement wall is just the 2" PVC pipe that
comes up the wall from the sump pump, then trough to the outside. The
sewer connection is about 15 feet away, into the basement floor, which
I assume is routine.