If your home is protected against flooding by using a sump pump system, most professionals recommend installing a backup sump pump especially if your home is located such that flooding from ground water or rain water is a frequent occurrence or if you are away from home for long periods of time. The primary sump pump can become clogged or fail and unless you are there to handle the problem, your home will flood.
Even if you are present when the sump pump fails, you may not notice the failure until it’s too late or you might not be able to get the primary sump pump up and running in time to prevent damage from flooding. Sump pumps don’t fail often, but when they do it invariably happens when you need them the most. It’s no fun trying to troubleshoot a sump pump failure when the sump pump is under a foot of rising flood water.
In addition, if the sump pump failure is due to a power failure in your neighborhood, there is nothing you can do except watch the water rise. And when is a power failure most likely to occur? During periods of heavy rain and thunderstorms which is exactly when you need the sump pump to be operating.
A backup sump pump can take care of all these concerns. There are two different types of backup sump pumps. One uses water power and the other uses a battery backup. A water powered backup sump pump is plumbed directly into your water system and uses water pressure for power to operate the pump. A battery backup sump pump uses a standby battery to run the pump. Your plumber can help you choose the right type of back up sump pump for your home.
