[bmeister7]

We live in suburban Bucks County, PA in a very wet area. Our sump pump is active no matter the weather. We recently had the whole thing redone properly, as the previous homeowners didn't have a quality setup.

Our plumber installed a 1/3 horsepower Flotec pump with a check valve/weep hole which pumps about 8 feet vertically out of the pit and into a 1.5" pipe leaving out house. The pipe then dips underground and goes out to meet the sewer drain. When the pump was installed, the check valve would not engage, sending water right back into the pit and constantly running the motor. In a short time, the elbow joint of the PVC pipe outside cracked, and we could hear a loud hissing noise as the air was sucked into the pipe once water had drained out of the pit. Our plumber replaced the elbow and drilled a small hole just after the joint to allow for air to escape. Now, the check valve does engage. However, now we are sending a stream of water into our neighbor's yard thanks to gravity. We need to stop this from happening, but not at the expense of our pump's motor.

Any suggestions? AAV possibly? Home Depot and another plumber have all come up with shrugged shoulders. Thanks!