[carterj11]

Hi,
Our house is 5 years old and our basement has a rough in for a bathroom, but we have not put one in yet. There is an ejector pit. There is a loud noice that comes from the basement that used to occur every few months, then it was once a month, and now it is once or twice a day. It is very loud, and I'm assuming it's the ejector pit, but since I'm never down there when it happens, I can't be sure. The sound is a loud hollow sound like big empty hard plastic bucket is being hit with a baseball bat. If it's not the ejector pit, what could this noise be? If it is the ejector pit, why would it be making noise, since there is no bathroom, laundry room or kitchen in the basement? It's definitely not the sump pump, as our sump pump is on the opposite side of the basement and this is not where the noise is coming from. Any help would be most appreciated.
Thanks,
Gary

[massplumber2008]

Hi Carter...

Most ejector pits have a cord going into the pit for the pump. The cord usually has a rubber grommet plucked into a hole to keep sewer gasses out. Pluck this rubber grommet out of the hole and shine a light down in the hole or place a stick down deep until you hit the bottom of the pit.

If you see water or if the stick comes back wet then it is possible that underground water is getting into the sump pit.

This would really need to be resolved as it would suggest that as much as underground water is getting into the pit, sewer water will be able to leak out of the pit when you do finally hook that basement bathroom up. This would eventually lead to some awful odors/gasses escaping and you would not be happy with that!

Any questions... let us know.

Mark

[hkstroud]

If the sewage ejector pump is set up for the basement bath only, unplug it. Watch water level for a few hours and see is noise occurs.

I ejector pump set up for entire house, unplug, run some water and flush toilet a couple times. Plug ejector pump in and see if noise occurs.

Sounds more like sump pump causing pipe vibration or banging in the area of the ejector pump. Unplug sump pump, pour water into sump pump pit. Plug sump pump back in and see what happens.

Keep in mind that noise could be unrelated to plumbing. Could also be something like defective pressure regulating valve or loose washer in main shut off valve. You need more information.