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backup power for a sewage pump?
europachris:
I have a small dilemma I need to solve. How do I run a small (1/3 or 1/2 hp) sewage pump during power outages? Basically, I think a UPS of somesort is required? Do they have backup systems for existing sump pumps rather than the battery powered backup systems?
Our house has a downstairs bathroom in the basement. It drains into a sealed crock along with the basement floor drain. It then pumps up the water a few feet to the level of the line to the septic tank.
Well, the other day we had 4-1/2 inches of rain in a few hours. Well, the wife went into the basement with bare feet and found a good size wet spot on the carpet by the closet where the pump is located. Evidently at some point the power went out and there was water filling this crock somehow. I do know that the water line and power line for the well pump leak where they pass through the poured foundation during very heavy rains. I've tried to seal these with little results. But, they are right by the floor drain so it's not a big issue.
I can only surmise that in the period the power was out that the crock overfilled and ran out on the floor. I vacuumed up a gallon or two of water, and put the dehumidifier on the carpet to dry it out. We don't use the bathroom for anything but hand washing and dog washing in the tub, and also the floor drain and water softener drain into this system, so it wasn't (fortuntately) full of sewage.
I need an automatic backup as we weren't home at the time to fire up the generator. The pump only runs for a few seconds to empty the crock, so the power (kWh) requirements are very low.
I also have a proper sump pump for the basement drainage, but it's dry as a bone at all times.
Thanks!
Chris
bitsnpieces1:
Other than a UPS, an engine driven generator or engine driven pump I'm not sure. It sounds like you have two seperate sumps(crocks) so you might see if you could pipe the shower one to the other via gravity drain. That's assuming there is a difference in height.
I don't know what you've tried to seal the water pump lines, but, you might try digging out the concrete around the lines, say a 1/2 inch around and 1 - 2 inches deep and then filling with a silicone sealant worked well into the space.
europachris:
It is a sealed crock (for the most part) but it's not totally water tight.
I really don't know where this water came from, except the leakage into the floor drain which drains into this crock. The power wasn't out for more than a few minutes as far as I can tell, but it was enough....
I can't see if the water might have come in through the basement itself, but it doesn't look like it did.
I can only surmise that it somehow overflowed while the power was out and it was raining extremely hard.
Some sort of deep cycle battery and UPS type power controller would be a piece of cake to install, if I could just find the right one.
Chris
bitsnpieces1:
I don't think the small hp pumps need real clean AC, so maybe one of the car/truck inverters for power tools would work instead of an more expensive UPS. You might be able to size it to just run the pump by itself (most efficient use).
You also might check to see if the water flowed backwards out of the discharge pipe while the power was off. It's checkvalve might be stuck open and the pump is cycling a bunch. If you have a Kill_A_Watt plug the pump into it for a while and see if it's running a lot of time.
Tugger:
Sometimes the contractor will run the floor drain and tee it into the drains for your evestrough...when the water can't flow out fast enough it will back up the floor drain...there is a backflow preventer floor drain available at your local plumbing supplier...
http://www.femyers.com/products/sse/sse_mbsp.html
back up system
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