golddave wrote:
I'm not sure if I'm posting this to the right place but...

My sump pump pumps water from my basement to the street in front of my
house. When the weather is warm the water flows down the street to the
sewer a few houses down from me. But during the winter the water freezes
before reaching the sewer resulting in a large ice patch that grows each
time more water is pumped out. Is there something I can do to prevent the
freezing? Perhaps something I can add to the water in the sump pump well
that will not damage the pump?

Thanks.




You could try salt on the patch in the road.

X-posted to uk-d-i-y for more ideas.

Andy

"Andy Champ" wrote in message
. uk...
golddave wrote:
I'm not sure if I'm posting this to the right place but...

My sump pump pumps water from my basement to the street in front of my
house. When the weather is warm the water flows down the street to the
sewer a few houses down from me. But during the winter the water freezes
before reaching the sewer resulting in a large ice patch that grows each
time more water is pumped out. Is there something I can do to prevent
the
freezing? Perhaps something I can add to the water in the sump pump well
that will not damage the pump?

Your setup sounds very ad hoc and probably illegal. Discharging water into
the street like that (particularly at this time of year) is highly
antisocial and dangerous.

Surely it should be pumped into your own sewerage or rainwater drainage
system?

Tim

On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:53:28 -0000, Tim Downie wrote:

"Andy Champ" wrote in message
. uk...
golddave wrote:
I'm not sure if I'm posting this to the right place but...

My sump pump pumps water from my basement to the street in front of my
house. When the weather is warm the water flows down the street to the
sewer a few houses down from me. But during the winter the water freezes
before reaching the sewer resulting in a large ice patch that grows each
time more water is pumped out. Is there something I can do to prevent
the
freezing? Perhaps something I can add to the water in the sump pump well
that will not damage the pump?

Your setup sounds very ad hoc and probably illegal. Discharging water into
the street like that (particularly at this time of year) is highly
antisocial and dangerous.

Surely it should be pumped into your own sewerage or rainwater drainage
system?

Tim

I don't know about Andy's house, but the deeds to our house refer to a
specific right to discharge water onto the public highway. In our case it
is only our drive that does so, by being sloped in the right direction, but
the deeds do not restrict it to this.

SteveW

Hi
just my input on an already covered topic try farming suppliers most farms
have a similar setup and they use a type of antifreeze not sure what it is
but it certainly works just check your pump seals can handle the chemicals.
On another note it seems human nature doesn't change ; people still jump to
conclusions without all the facts as stated "its illegal to discharge water
onto a public highway "??? then how do my neighbors get away with washing
their cars every weekend or using hot water to de-ice them.Just today 4
washed their cars now they're frozen solid. Oh well another thread for the
new year.
All the best to all on group have a prosperous 2010 and remember NON
ILIGITIMUS CARBARUNDUM if my pigeon Latin prevails.
CJ
"Andy Champ" wrote in message
. uk...
golddave wrote:
I'm not sure if I'm posting this to the right place but...

My sump pump pumps water from my basement to the street in front of my
house. When the weather is warm the water flows down the street to the
sewer a few houses down from me. But during the winter the water freezes
before reaching the sewer resulting in a large ice patch that grows each
time more water is pumped out. Is there something I can do to prevent
the
freezing? Perhaps something I can add to the water in the sump pump well
that will not damage the pump?

Thanks.




You could try salt on the patch in the road.

X-posted to uk-d-i-y for more ideas.

Andy

It happens that Andy Champ formulated :
My sump pump pumps water from my basement to the street in front of my
house. When the weather is warm the water flows down the street to the
sewer a few houses down from me. But during the winter the water freezes
before reaching the sewer resulting in a large ice patch that grows each
time more water is pumped out. Is there something I can do to prevent the
freezing? Perhaps something I can add to the water in the sump pump well
that will not damage the pump?


It is against the law to discharge water in that way and very
anti-social. Can you not discharge it into a proper drain?

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Steve Walker wrote:

I don't know about Andy's house, but the deeds to our house refer to a
specific right to discharge water onto the public highway. In our case it
is only our drive that does so, by being sloped in the right direction, but
the deeds do not restrict it to this.

SteveW

As it doesn't seem clear to everyone, this isn't my house! As it
happens we have a shared driveway which runs down and all goes out
through two drains on my private area. It's me that drains the road.

Andy

Oh gee...

I think you may find both points of view are right.
- Deeds may permit it
- However law most likely takes precedence

Can you store the water locally (as opposed to the store known as
"Basement")?
If so use a second small pump operated by a float & timer during
daylight (warmer) hours to shunt the water out?


I recall this problem repeatedly cropped up 30-40yrs ago with routine
tarmac replacing cobble streets; the old cobble streets had specific
"dished channel" between the sewers, tarmac removed them with often
insufficient fall. Councils fitted grooved dished channel across
walkways to basement pumps (water runs in grooves rather than freezing
across walkway).