Basement water issues

[CowboyAndIndian]

I'm facing a really weird (but good) event. My sump pump has not activated in about 45 days. I'm trying to understand what has happend

Since I bought the house in 2021, the sump pump is always working(every 5-10 minutes). I thought the issue was ground water with a high water table level. I assumed that this was a lifelong thing.

So, this is what I did

• When I bought the house, I got french drains around the house.
• Added a water powered backup pump etc for redundancy
• Kept a backup pump at the ready for quick replacement
• My Tesla powerwall would provide power in the case of any outage.

From the past six weeks, my pump has not activated. I open up the sump pit and do not see any water coming from my drain tile. There is about an inch of water at the bottom.

Here are some things that could have impacts on my ground water

• My county in NJ has had draught from September of 2024. Can this reduce the ground water so much?
• The water company has fixed a couple of mains water leaks in two areas around my house. One was about 100 yards uphill 12 months ago and one about 300 yards about 3 months ago

I want to hope that my water issues have gone away. Am I wrong?

[corgiegirl]

How deep are the French drains compared to your basement level?  However far down your French drains are dry it isn't a groundwater level problem.

A lot of water can come out of a mains leak and the lack of new water from a leak would take time to work its way through the ground, so the timing might be right for the mains repairs.

This is a good problem for you to have.

[Paper Chaser]

My money is on the lack of rain. Especially if your french drains lead into your sump pit.

[sonofsven]

It's hard to know which change is most responsible for this good development. You don't have a very long history with the site, either. So you don't really know if the sump usage was an anomaly, or not.  Maybe there's a history of less sump usage during dry years, and more during wet.
Probably most likely the drought conditions. But I have seen really good results from french drains, too. You would think, though, that if it was a constant problem previously, someone would have put french drains in a long time ago? Who knows. I've learned to not spend too much time trying to figure out why people did what they did to their houses, lol.
In new construction we do things to impede water movement through the concrete that just weren't done years ago*, so if there is a strong water source hitting the foundation/basement wall in an older home,  it will find it's way through, easily. So, in that scenario, a properly done and deep enough perimeter drain can solve the problem. You can never really solve a major problem by coating the inside

* coat the exterior foundation and footings below grade with tar or an attached membrane and install footing drains, lined with fabric and covered with drain rock below grade

[CowboyAndIndian]

How deep are the French drains compared to your basement level?  However far down your French drains are dry it isn't a groundwater level problem.

A lot of water can come out of a mains leak and the lack of new water from a leak would take time to work its way through the ground, so the timing might be right for the mains repairs.

This is a good problem for you to have.

My french drains are about 10 feet away from the house and is about 4 feet deep. It is designed to get rid of surface water since I am at bottom of two intersecting slopes.

My thinking was my basement water was surface water driven.

The french drains have worked well and moved surface water away from the house. THe ground is no longer squishy and muddy as it used to be before.

I hope you are right and it is a mains leak issue. It definitely is a good problem to have.

[CowboyAndIndian]

My money is on the lack of rain. Especially if your french drains lead into your sump pit.

My external french drains lead to a storm drain at the curb.

The internal drain tile under the slab lead into the sump.

I am expecting the lack of rain, but really hoping that the water main leak fixed it ;-)

[CowboyAndIndian]

It's hard to know which change is most responsible for this good development. You don't have a very long history with the site, either. So you don't really know if the sump usage was an anomaly, or not.  Maybe there's a history of less sump usage during dry years, and more during wet.

True, I just have 4 years of history and I have not gone thru a drought in this house.

Probably most likely the drought conditions. But I have seen really good results from french drains, too. You would think, though, that if it was a constant problem previously, someone would have put french drains in a long time ago? Who knows. I've learned to not spend too much time trying to figure out why people did what they did to their houses, lol.

The french drain that I installed was to handle surface water. I am at the downhill intersection of two slopes and my lawns became saturated and muddy after a rain due to all the water coming down hill. It was worked well in keeping the surface water away from the house.

In new construction we do things to impede water movement through the concrete that just weren't done years ago*, so if there is a strong water source hitting the foundation/basement wall in an older home,  it will find it's way through, easily. So, in that scenario, a properly done and deep enough perimeter drain can solve the problem. You can never really solve a major problem by coating the inside

* coat the exterior foundation and footings below grade with tar or an attached membrane and install footing drains, lined with fabric and covered with drain rock below grade

This house is not too old. Constructed in 1993, so I guess it had all the exterior sealing done. It is a cast concrete basement.  The inside of the basement walls are not wet, the water seems to rise up from below the slab.

[franklin4]

Whatever can be done to keep water away from basements is a good thing. If this year is a wet one and the basement stays dry you can credit fixing the water leaks. Difficult to know esp from long distance.

[CowboyAndIndian]

Whatever can be done to keep water away from basements is a good thing. If this year is a wet one and the basement stays dry you can credit fixing the water leaks. Difficult to know esp from long distance.

True, the causes of water in the basement is rather opaque as it depends on the underlying water table and how that is affected.

I'm going to play a watch and monitor game. If there is not much activity in the pump during spring when NJ gets a lot of rain, I'm going to credit the main pipe repairs.

[Sibley]

My guess is it's really a combination of effects. The leaks got fixed, it's less rainy, you diverted surface water. Since it's all happening at once you can't really separate them.

[CowboyAndIndian]

My guess is it's really a combination of effects. The leaks got fixed, it's less rainy, you diverted surface water. Since it's all happening at once you can't really separate them.

I think you hit the nail on the head.I was trying to find an specific cause but with multiple factors the exact cause is hard to pin down.

Only thing left to do is wait and watch and see what happens during the spring rains.

[CowboyAndIndian]

It's likely that the combination of drought conditions and the recent water main repairs have significantly reduced the groundwater level around your property, explaining why your sump pump hasn’t activated. Drought lowers the water table, and the fixed leaks may have eliminated a previously unnoticed source of excess water infiltration. While this is a positive development, monitor the situation, especially during wetter seasons, to confirm if this change is permanent or temporary. Keep your sump system maintained and ready for potential future groundwater increases.

Good point. I'll pull out the pump and clean it up and check the floats (which are the Achilles heel of the system).

[lthenderson]

My first step is to manually trip the sump pump and just verify it is still in working order.

[CowboyAndIndian]

My first step is to manually trip the sump pump and just verify it is still in working order.

Thanks.

Did just that and looks like all is good with the pump, float switch and the check valve. I got one of those transparent check valves so that I could see if the flapper was stuck. I believe it is a Zoeller (good brand).

[CowboyAndIndian]

And it is back!

Just like that, the pump turns on every 3:30 minutes.

At least I had 6 months of hope ;-)

[CowboyAndIndian]

It’s very possible that your sump pump inactivity is due to a combination of factors, mainly the ongoing drought and the repaired water main leaks. A prolonged drought can significantly lower the groundwater table, reducing the amount of water reaching your drain tile system. Additionally, if the nearby water main leaks were contributing to excess underground moisture, their repair could have eliminated a steady artificial water source. Since your sump pump used to run every 5–10 minutes, this suggests that groundwater was continuously entering the pit, which may not have been entirely natural. If your foundation was relying on leaking water to maintain that high water table, fixing the leaks could explain the sudden drop in sump activity.

While this seems like a positive outcome, it's important to monitor changes. Heavy rainfall or seasonal groundwater shifts could bring water back into your system. Keep an eye on your sump pit during wet weather, and if water doesn’t return, you may have truly resolved your sump pump dependency. However, if your soil has dried out excessively, it could cause shrinkage and future foundation shifts, so periodic inspections are a good idea.

Thank you. I am coming around to the same opinion.

There was rains the day before the pump started up, but following a week of no rain, the pump has slowed down almost to a stop.  Maybe keep track of the amount of rain and the number of activations per day.

Now we have an hypothesis and to check this hypothesis, I need a way to monitoring the sump pump without depending on hearing. I have an old float switch and a $8 electronic counter. I can probably rig up something. Only problem is the sump is quite crowded, so will be hard to fit it in.

[Monocle Money Mouth]

I had similar experience with my sump pump. For the first 11 years in my house, my sump pump would cycle on every 20 seconds during hard rains, snow thaws, or both at the same time. It runs once a minute in the same conditions now. My house is also in a city that is mostly drained swamp forest, so the water table is high.

Around the 11th year I lived there, the old 1920's house next to mine with a gravel driveway was demolished and two new homes were built on the lot. The new houses have functional drain tiles and sump pumps. They also have concrete driveways that funnel a lot of water to the storm sewer drains in the street. I think they are pumping and draining a lot of water that used to work its way over to my property.

[CowboyAndIndian]

Around the 11th year I lived there, the old 1920's house next to mine with a gravel driveway was demolished and two new homes were built on the lot. The new houses have functional drain tiles and sump pumps. They also have concrete driveways that funnel a lot of water to the storm sewer drains in the street. I think they are pumping and draining a lot of water that used to work its way over to my property.

The closest new construction is this huge apartment complex, about 2000 feet away which was completed a couple of months ago. Almost a third to a half mile away as a crow flies. I think it is at a lower elevation compared to me. Not really sure if it is a cause due to the distance.

[CowboyAndIndian]

There are 3 possible causes for the ground water which might activate the pump

• Leakage from the municipal water system. With the fixes in the last few months, this may be the lowest possibility
• Rain. As mentioned before, we are in a draught.
• There is a pond with a water wheel about 300 feet from the house. This used to be a functioning mill when this area was a farm but is now a decorative feature in the community. This water wheel does not run in winter. I believe that they have a pump which fills up the pond when the water wheel is running. When the pond/wheel is active, it could be a cause for the water table increase. I don't think I have mentioned this pond/water wheel.

There are days when the pump runs and days when the pump is inactive.  If I can track the Rain and when the pond for the water wheel is filled and running and compare it with the activations of the pump, I can probably come up with some more insights.

I put together a simple counter to find out how many times the pump activated. I used an old float switch and connected it to a cheapo counter from Amazon. I managed to get it installed yesterday as my area is  expecting heavy rain today. I have already had a few activations of the pump and can verify the counter is working well.

I've attached a picture of the water wheel and the counter.

[CowboyAndIndian]

Heres another picture of the water wheel which gives an indication of the size of the pond.

[CowboyAndIndian]

I have a few days of data on rainfall/day and the number of pump activation/day.

We had one big storm, 1.5 inches of rain in 24 hours. Pump started up an hour after the rain started and stopped about 3 days after the rain stopped. I am a nerd after all, so a Table/Graph is attached.

Looks like ground water is dependant on rainfall and the pump stops after several days of pumping. This is a major improvement of the first 3.5 years where the pump was in continuous operation irrespective of rainfall.

On  a funny/scary note, the counter has stopped at a very scary number. Hope the gates of hell do not open up thru my sump pump ;-)

[CowboyAndIndian]

I will be out of the house for a few days and I was worried that I could not update my table/graph when I was away. I had put a cheap Wyze camera about the sump when I went on vacation a year ago, so that I could check for any problems. So, I added a small mount for the counter made out of scraps of wood, used a night light to illuminate the counter and voila, I have a counter which can be remotely read.

Rainfall is got with the RainDrop app, which can also be read remotely.

ETA: I also reset the counter, so it is not at the number of the beast. I pressed the reset when I was mounting the counter ;-)

[CowboyAndIndian]

Here is the graph from today.

Looks like smaller rains do not impact my sump as much as larger rains. THere is a non-linear number of pump activations wrt the amount of rainfall. Maybe there is another house which is lower than me and is handling smaller rainfall amounts.

Will keep this going for several months, maybe a year.