[honeydipped1]

We had a home inspection on a house today (in Chicago) with a sump pump/sewage pump pit that has standing water in it. The property is a foreclosure and has been winterized and though we were told that the water had been turned on, it wasn't. Is it normal to have standing water in the sump pump pit? If no, what is the process to remove it? Thanks much.

[hkstroud]

How much water? Sump pumps turn on only when the water level reaches a certain height. They usually do not pump all of the water out. Usually there is 4 to 6" of water in the bottom of the crock when they turn off.

[Milo Dolezal]

In addition to HKStraud's response: sometimes we set pump on bricks to keep it elevated. But overall: there is always some water standing inside the pit.

[honeydipped1]

It's hard to tell how much water... we'll have to find out. I took a pix but will try to upload tomorrow. Also, the pit is coverless and this is probably why when walking into the house, there's an unusual smell which bothers me because who wants to live in a house where there's a sewage-type scent. This one issue has been very disappointing to us because this is our first house and we are set to close 4/1 but are unsure if we should take a risk on this sold as is house. Furthermore, our inspector called us back and said that he spoke to 2 people who stated that standing water in the pit is unusual. Thanks Harold and Milo.

[Milo Dolezal]

Well, it all depends how much standing water you have. Sewer ejectors NEVER pump out entire pit. There are ALWAYS few inches of sewage at the bottom.

As for the cover of the pit: The pit HAS to be covered and SEALED and properly vented with 2" dedicated vent pipe terminating above the roof.. It is great health hazard to live with open sewer. If I am the inspector on this house , I will red tag it until the sewer ejector is brought up to the plumbing and health Code.

[hkstroud]

Unless you have gone through a long dry spell and the water in the sump pit has just evaporated there will be some water.

The fact that you stated that there is a strong sewage smell makes me wonder if what you are referring to is sewage ejection pit and pump, not a sump pump. Same thing applies about water level but a sump pump should not have an odor. Water in a sump pump is just ground water (rain water).

Post pic.

Edit: Reread your post and see that you said sump pump/sewage pump. Two different things, must be sewage ejection. As Milo said must be covered and sealed

[honeydipped1]

I will try to post pix tomorrow. And yes, my husband stated that one is a sump pump and the other next to it, is a sewage ejection; he said pump, but meant ejection. I forgot to state that there's also a constant sound of running water... and we were like who wants to hear that sound all the time esp. if you're in the basement. Thanks again and good night.

[speedball1]

our inspector called us back and said that he spoke to 2 people who stated that standing water in the pit is unusual.

Were the two people the inspector spoke to plumbers?
Shame on the inspector for not knowing that there's always some water left standing in a sump pit. Cheers, Tom

[hkstroud]

If there is a constant sound of running water in the sewage ejection pump pit, check for a leaking toilet(s).

[honeydipped1]

Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

[hkstroud]

Things make a little more sense now with the picture. You say that the water to the house is turned off. That leaves two possibilities.

1. One of the sump crocks is leaking.

2. Ground water is seeping into the pit the sump crocks are sitting in.

When you said there was a constant sound of water running I assumed the sound of water in a pipe. I now assume that you mean the sound of water as if you slowly poured water from a pitcher into a glass. That would be the sound of water from the foundation piping slowly draining into the sump crock.

The water you see could be seeping into the pit through cracks or pours in the concrete, or from around the green pipe. It could be coming from a busted or cracked sump crock.

If the electricity is or has been turned off the, the water in the pit could have escaped the sump crock at a level above the turn on level of the sump pump and has now stagnated. Giving off an odor.

The wet area around the pipe makes me think that it is most likely that with the electricity turned off and the pump not working, there was a build up of ground water under the floor and the water in the pit came from around the pipe.

[Milo Dolezal]

Thank you for posting the photos:

1. As Harold says, It also appears to me the water is coming inside the pit from around the green sewer pipe that penetrates the concrete wall. I can see wet spot around that pipe.

2. Pipes are not sealed at the point of penetration at each bucket with supplied seal. It may happened that one ejector stopped working and the bucket overflown. I can actually see level of sewage way to high in the left bucket ( looking through the port hole where vent pipe should be ), which supports my suspicion

3. Your sewer ejectors are covered with lids. The entire pit doesn't have to be covered to meet the Code. The concrete pit acts like a place to hold sewer ejectors in. However, without the seals and missing pipes - it is still health hazard.

Do this:

Find out what plumbing fixtures empty into the left bucket. Turn water on. Go to the pit and observe whether the left ejector actually works or overflows.

[honeydipped1]

Thanks much hkstroud & Mr Dolezal. My husband scheduled Roter Rooter to come out on Thursday but now after reading your responses he is not sure if he should since the H2O hasn't been turned on yet. My husband asks would yous consider this problem a deal breaker and any idea on how much $ we might be out of to get this nasty problem rectified. Even though, we're going in blind, since the house is sold as is and we were told that with REO properties sometimes the H2O doesn't get turned on until a few days before closing. Also, I forgot to mention in my original post that it was raining (not pouring though) all day on Saturday, the day of the inspection... but that clearly wasn't the sound of H2O I heard.

[hkstroud]

I don't think Rotor Rooter is the way to go. Rotor Rooter is for clearing blocked drainage pipes. This is not a case of blocked pipes. With the water to the house turned off it cannot be blocked pipes. It must be a problem of ground water. That is, water that is in the ground, due to rain, snow or terrain. That is what the sump pump (the one on the left) is for, pumping out water in the ground around the home. There is piping around the basement walls underneath the floor that collects water and directs it to the sump pump crock. Without electricity the sump pump would not have been working. Without the pump, the crock could have over filled and spilled into the pit. Also, if the ground water is not removed it begins to build up pressure and seep in around the pipe.

I would not consider this a deal breaker. Chances are that all you will have to do is turn on the electricity and clean out the pit. As long as the sump pump works you should not have a problem with water in the basement. If you find that you have significant long time power outages, you might want to consider a sump pump with a battery back up or a small generator. If the sewage ejector pump serves the entire house, I would consider the generator since you won't have toilets during extended power outages.

[Milo Dolezal]

I also think it is ground water. Not a big deal. I would put in small site pump with auto-float for this situation.

Just make sure you install proper seals around the pipes that run through the lids.

[honeydipped1]

Thank yous, I'll inform of the final outcome and will seek out other alternatives to Roter Rooter.