Can I use flexible tubing for sump pump?

[Brian Elfert]

The genius who designed the utility room in my basement made it way too small. The sump pit is in the corner of the room underneath an air exchanger and all kinds of duct work.

Anyhow, could I use some fairly stiff tubing to route around all this stuff until I get to a spot where I can switch to ABS pipe? The tubing would be 1 1/2" in diameter.

Also, any reason I can't run the sump water into corrugated drain pipe that runs underground maybe a foot deep? The drain pipe would be wrapped with the white "sock" that keeps dirt out. The side wall of my house is 10 feet from the neighbor's driveway and dumping the water onto the lawn would flood the neighbor's dirt driveway.

The dirt is all sand and the goal would be for the water to dissipate into the soil without pooling on the ground. I have access to a free 60 foot spool of the corrugated drain pipe.

Brian Elfert

[David G Baker]

Brian,
I would use what is called a dry well. Go to Google and do a dry well search. If you live in cold country you may want to put your out put line a little deeper in the ground. You didn't say what your sump is used for. If you have a washing machine that drains into your sump you may need to have a pretty good sized dry well.
I am thinking about putting in a dry well for all of my gray water. I to have sandy soil, it is great except when I want to grow a garden.

[Matt Meiser]

They sell plastic tube specifically for sump pumps.

As far as discharging into the ground, that would be fine with low flow, but if it is really wet where is the water going to go? Eventually I think you are going to need to provide a way out for mass amounts of water. Depending on your climate, you also have to think about freezing if you are going to hold the water only 1' down.

[Brian Elfert]

The sump pit is where the drain tile around the foundation drains into. the basement floor also has 9" of clean river rock underneath so any water under the floor will drain to the sump pit.

Once the ground thaws, the sump pump runs every 15 to 20 minutes pretty much regardless of any precipitation.

During the winter, the sump pump doesn't run at all once the ground freezes until the ground thaws again. The sump pump just start running again in the last week or so.

Brian Elfert

[Brian Elfert]

Brian,
I would use what is called a dry well. Go to Google and do a dry well search. If you live in cold country you may want to put your out put line a little deeper in the ground. You didn't say what your sump is used for. If you have a washing machine that drains into your sump you may need to have a pretty good sized dry well.
I am thinking about putting in a dry well for all of my gray water. I to have sandy soil, it is great except when I want to grow a garden.

Any ideas how to size a dry well? The Google search results didn't talk about sizing at all.

I might be looking at a size big enough that professional installation will be required.

Brian Elfert

[Jim DeLaney]

I'd be concerned about running the sump pump into a dry well that's close to the house. The water could drain back down to the foundation or under the slab, and then back into the sump, creating a pretty much continuous loop. You'd end up just pumping the same water over and over...

The dry well, if you use one, should be located well away from the house. It'd be best - if your local codes allow it - to run the pump's output to the street.

[Brian Elfert]

I'd be concerned about running the sump pump into a dry well that's close to the house. The water could drain back down to the foundation or under the slab, and then back into the sump, creating a pretty much continuous loop. You'd end up just pumping the same water over and over...

The dry well, if you use one, should be located well away from the house. It'd be best - if your local codes allow it - to run the pump's output to the street.

The continuous loop is a bit of a concern. I would really like to have a civil engineer or similiar to come out and give me an answer on how to handle this, but I have no idea what type of firm to contact. Obviously I will pay for this service.

Unfortunately, I cannot run to the street considering there is no curb on my part of the street, it is uphill, and there is a sidewalk in the way. It is also well over 100 feet from the sump pump to the street.

Brian Elfert

[Matt Meiser]

I think you actually want a hydrologist. I would think just about any small consulting engineering firm could handle this for you. I know we have hydrologists on staff, and probably have an office near you, but we aren't set up to handle small customers--our surveyors even recommend another company to employees who need survey work done.

Since your lot slopes down from the street, is there any kind of storm drain in your back yard that you could run the line to? Ours runs about 200 feet out to the ditch along to road in front of our house so I don't think the distance to get to any part of a city lot would be too much.

[Brian Elfert]

I think you actually want a hydrologist. I Since your lot slopes down from the street, is there any kind of storm drain in your back yard that you could run the line to? Ours runs about 200 feet out to the ditch along to road in front of our house so I don't think the distance to get to any part of a city lot would be too much.

I have an unusual lot. 55 feet wide and 280 feet deep. There is a slight slope to the street in front and the back has a three foot retaining wall 30 feet behind the house.

There is no storm drain in the back except a ditch of sorts that I understand is not to be used for drainage.

I'll have to find a hydrologist who will actually come out. A lot of companies simply don't want to deal with a small job for a homeowner.

Brian Elfert

[Ben Grunow]

The answer to the drywell location lies in what is called a percolation test where a hole is dug to establish the location of the ground water table (dig until below foundation depth or you hit water, whichever is first) If you dont hit water, you will be able to see the lines in the soil where the water rises to at its highest (level changes with season/rainfall etc). Then, if the water level is low enough to allow the installation of a drywell, you pour a measured amount of water into the hole and measure the time it takes to seep in. Based on that number you know at what rate a given area of ground will absorb water and you can calculate the size of a drywell. Just like a septic system.

That said, if you live on a decent slope with no clay soil around and no ledge rock, you should be able to dig a 5' diameter hole about 6' deep (fill it with gravel) and put all the water a sump pump could pump into it. Another simple way is to bury a perforated pipe in a trench with gravel and wrap the whoel thing in filter fabric. Just make it long.

Where I live thisis a very sensitive issue as houses are large and lots are small so less and less rainwater has a chance to seep into the ground. Most homes spend around $20,000 on systems to avoid flooding neighbors when adding on. Systems are complicated and use concrete storage tanks, plastic infiltrators and lots o pipe. All designed by engineers.

I would get some help with this idea from (hopefully) a surveyor/engineers office. Maybe a new home around you has one or a bulder could refer you to an engineer.

[Matt Meiser]

I'll have to find a hydrologist who will actually come out. A lot of companies simply don't want to deal with a small job for a homeowner.

That's why I suggest a small consulting company. For us, a $5,000 job (consulting fee, not construction) is tiny.

[David G Baker]

Brian,
I have used 55 gallon drums for dry wells and they worked fine for what I used them for. Rain gutters were piped into the drums. The drums were filled with and surrounded by 3 inch rock. You said that you live in cold country so I would bury the drums top approximately 3 feet below grade minimum depending on the frost line depth in your area.
The water table in your area may need to be taken into consideration.

[Art Mulder]

Once the ground thaws, the sump pump runs every 15 to 20 minutes pretty much regardless of any precipitation.


Brian, I'm no engineer, but I grew up in a house in the country that had a sump, and we still got wet sometimes.

This comment about the pump running every 15-20 minutes regardless of any precipitation greatly concerns me. Are you sure you aren't just getting the same water dumped back into your pit? How far away from the foundation is the water being dumped right now? Is it uphill or downhill? is the water table there very high?


I have an unusual lot. 55 feet wide and 280 feet deep. There is a slight slope to the street in front and the back has a three foot retaining wall 30 feet behind the house.

There is no storm drain in the back except a ditch of sorts that I understand is not to be used for drainage.

Now this flat out puzzles me. What is a ditch for if not for drainage?

Also, please explain more about the lay of the land. Which way is that retaining wall? Does the ground rise up behind it, or does it drop down? If it drops down, then that seems to me to be the place where you want to send your water. If it raises up, then I'd say it's time to put your house on the market, :cool: because you're living in a hole in the ground (raises up at the back, raises up at the front) and you'll be fighting a losing battle against water forever.

Hope this is some help. Sounds like you're getting other good advice about hydrogeologists and dry wells. posting a sketch of your lot might be a good idea though, to help us visualize the situation.

[Brian Elfert]

Brian, I'm no engineer, but I grew up in a house in the country that had a sump, and we still got wet sometimes.

This comment about the pump running every 15-20 minutes regardless of any precipitation greatly concerns me. Are you sure you aren't just getting the same water dumped back into your pit? How far away from the foundation is the water being dumped right now? Is it uphill or downhill? is the water table there very high?



Now this flat out puzzles me. What is a ditch for if not for drainage?

Also, please explain more about the lay of the land. Which way is that retaining wall? Does the ground rise up behind it, or does it drop down? If it drops down, then that seems to me to be the place where you want to send your water. If it raises up, then I'd say it's time to put your house on the market, :cool: because you're living in a hole in the ground (raises up at the back, raises up at the front) and you'll be fighting a losing battle against water forever.


I'm currently dumping the water into the sanitary sewer and I need to quit doing so. The water is certainly not cycling back into the basement unless the sewer line is broke. (All new line to street installed when house built in 2001.)

What looks like a ditch on the back side of my property is actually an easement for a road. It is highly unlikely the city would ever actually build the road and it ends a block or two down from me. The city says that the ditch just naturally formed due to erosion and it is NOT to be used as a drainage ditch.

The land behind the retaining wall is about 24" higher which is the reason for the wall. The slope to the road in front isn't much, but enough that water would not naturally drain out to the road.

Brian Elfert