Our ejector pit has water in it up to about 6" from the top. It still turns on, but occasionally a drain flowing into it from the basement will back up with water and create a pool of standing water in the basement.

When it gets to that, if I gently shake the pipe from the ejector pump it usually turns on and drains the water, but it seems like more of the water in the pit should be draining than actually is. Any thoughts?

Hi Ag...

Yeah, water shouldn't be that high in a pit... ever.

You'll need to open the pit up and see what is hanging up on the float mechanism. Here, take some bleach and flush it down a toilet many times to clear the ejector pit of most of the real nasty stuff and kind of deodorize the pit. Wait for the pump to come on a final time and then open the pit up to see if anything is stuck on the float mechanism... if so, clear and set the pump back in place.

Seal the pit up with a new seal kit and add a little silicone (flexible) caulking at all pipes as they meet the ejector lid. Test and hopefully you're all set... :)

Now, this drain flowing into the ejector pit... is it a TRAPPED pipe? If not, then sewer gasses from the ejector system are escaping into your home... not good!

Questions? Let us know...

Mark

Thanks... I'll try clearing the float mechanism. The drain has a water trap so I don't think there are any gases or anything. Even when the water backs out of the drain it seems relatively clear/clean. It looks like the water is backing up from the furnace hoses that drain into it. For some reason those weren't drained into the pit directly; only been in the house for a couple years.

In addition to Mark's excellent advice: make sure your check valve works. Faulty check valve will allow sewer to drain back to the pit. Also, set pump on couple of bricks to keep it above the bottom.

Ejector pumps come in several types, (see images) which one do you have? Let me know, Tom