sump pump back flow

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sump pump back flow energy fact sheet

friendly plumber sump pump

Your sump pump may be working harder than it has to & wasting electricity in the process. In a typical installation, a sump pump (collection basin, containing the sump pump, which is located at the low point under the house. Used to collect water beneath the home, for pumping from the home) has to pump water up a considerable length of vertical & then horizontal pipe before the water exits the home. So, what happens to all the water in these pipes when the pump shuts off? If your system doesn't have a "Back Flow Valve" the water runs back into the sump pump's pit. The pit, then, is being partially refilled w/ water it just pumped out. This will cause it to fill that much quicker & the pump will run again. Every time the pump runs, it is re-pumping a given amount of water over & over ... a never ending cycle!

As the diagram at the left indicates, installing a Back Flow Valve (device that is installed in the water discharge pipe, which only allows water to flow in one direction.) (V) above the pump will hold back the majority of the water that remains in the pipe (between "a" & "b"), which would have otherwise flowed back into the pit. To avoid the possibility of water freezing in the pipe at the point at which it exits the house (a) you may want to also consider angling the horizontal pipe slightly, so water doesn't remain standing in it, but drains out of the house.