Sump Pits and Lift Stations, a Primer

I'm back after a bit of an Army Hiatus.

So quite often when I'm talking with a customer they will tell me they are having problems with their "sump thingy" when in fact its their lift station that is causing problems.

"So what's the big deal?" you ask. Don't they both move fluid?

Yep, they both in fact move fluid, but not the same fluid. This is to make sure you understand the difference as there is a considerable cost and use difference.

Sump Pits:

Sump pits are atypically only for moving ground water out of an area. Say a crawlspace or a basement.

They can be put in a small pail, to a 5 gallon bucket, to a full fledged pit designed especially for this purpose. This is where people, quite often, become confused.

This what a typical sump system could look like.

Perforated on the sides to allow ground water in, and a single pipe to eject the water out.

Sump pumps are nothing more then a pump that sucks water in the bottom and shots it out the top. you will also notice that only one pipe comes out the top and that pipe has a check valve in it to keep the water in the pipe from rushing back into the pit.

Why does it matter if it comes back into the pit?", you say. Glad you asked! it can cause the sump to cycle excessively if the water up your stand pipe constantly comes back into your pit after the float has dropped and told your pump that the pit is empty. These pumps are not cheap to replace, and then there's the added headache of the DIY guy. You know the guy who didn't want to hire a plumber, and now there's 80 feet of pipe, all graded back toward the pit. 80 feet of anything can hold a lot of water.

Now obviously you cant see the sides of the tank when your looking at prospective properties, and it doesn't help that sump pits and lift stations look so much alike from the top. So its important to know the difference.

Lift Stations:

Now a lift station, even though it looks a lot like a sump pit, is a whole different beast.

Notice in the pic that there are two pipes coming out of this one.

There is also a ball valve with a union. That union is actually a check valve that also acts as a union for ease of replacement, and so that you don't wear the fluid as a hat when your taking the pump out.

This is for sewage!

The purpose of a lift station is for housing that has the main sewer line coming in higher then the lowest fixtures.

The pump in this bad boy looks like a sump, but is bigger and more heavy duty. It also has a grinder inside of it, much like a garbage disposal.

So one of the pipes is to eject the waste from the pit to the main sewer line, wherever that may be, and the other pipe acts as a vent for the pit which can vent back into the sewer vents or can vent outside, but it follows the same rules as any other plumbing vent so make sure you know the rules for your area (Note: sump pits are supposed to eject water away from the house, but never back into the sewer. Code does not allow for ground water or storm water to come back into a sanitary drainage system).

Your plumber will not be happy if you tell him "sump" and its actually an ejector pump.

Now if you are yourself, a DIY person, and you feel the urge to tackle this project yourself.

Well, I'm pretty sure you will only do it once before you add it to your list of "I wont touch that again".

So hopefully this helps you understand that the "sump thingy" has a much more specific purpose. and knowing the difference could save you quite a bit of money, when one or the other fails.

Extra tip:

Sumps and ejector pumps can both become clogged. Rocks can get stuck in a sump, and  other " nastier" things can get stuck in an ejector. So if either quit working, unplug the pump, pull the pump and kick it over on its side. 8 times out of 10 something is stuck in there and you can have it back up and running rather quickly.

Happy Real Estate Hunting!