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It Fails When the Power Does

The correlation nobody plans for: the weather that fills the pit is the weather that takes the electricity out.

The gist

The storm that fills the pit is the storm that cuts the power. A battery backup pump, a water-powered backup and a generator each cover that differently, with different running times and different costs. A second mains-powered pump on the same circuit is not a backup at all.

Pit and Pump is a referral service, not a contractor. We connect homeowners with independent contractors. Contractors are required to hold whatever credential their state or municipality demands, and a discharge connection is usually a permitted alteration — ask to see the permit. We carry out no work, we sell no equipment, we do not set prices, and we never charge homeowners anything — the contractors in our network pay us when we route them a call.

The problem in one sentence

A sump pump is an electrical appliance whose busiest hour is the hour the grid is most likely to be down. Everything else on this page follows from that.

It is also why a pump that passes every test can still let a basement flood, and why “my pump is only two years old” is not the reassurance people take it for.

What the options are

Arrangement	Runs without mains power	What it depends on
Single mains pump	No	Nothing else. This is the default and it is not a backup arrangement.
Battery backup pump	Yes, for a limited time	A charged battery, and a charger that has been tested.
Water-powered backup	Yes, indefinitely	Municipal water pressure, and whether your municipality permits them.
Generator	Yes, while fueled and running	Somebody being at home to start it.

The last column is the one to read. Each of these fails in a different way and only one of them fails in a way you can fix from a hotel.

If you are running a generator

Never run a generator indoors, in a basement, in a garage, or anywhere the exhaust can reach the house. Carbon monoxide from a portable generator kills people in exactly this scenario — a storm, a power cut, a generator brought in out of the rain.

Put it outside, well away from doors, windows and vents, and make sure there is a working carbon monoxide alarm inside the house before you need one.

Whether a water-powered backup is allowed where you are

A water-powered backup uses mains water pressure to move sump water, which means it consumes potable water to do it and needs backflow protection to keep the two apart. Some municipalities restrict or prohibit them for that reason.

Ask the same department that answers the discharge question. It is usually the same phone call.

Where to go next

Done the bucket test?If the pump ran and cleared the pit, you may not need us at all. If it did not, or if you want the discharge looked at, we will route you to somebody who covers your area — the ZIP code is all we need to find them. Free to you. The line is not restricted to sump work; any plumbing job can go through it.

Call (888) 515-3188