With the storm that just hit the northeast, my street lost power as usual for an intense storm. Rain caused unusually high water tables and the lack of electricity disabled sump pumps. My house was thankfully spared, but a neighbor who "never gets water" discovered a wading pool in their basement. At peak it was only a few inches above the floor as seen by the water line in the picture, but it ruined some rugs and made a huge mess of their stored belongings. In addition, it partially submerged the motor of their pedestal sump pump, creating a major shock hazard if power came back.
I like to scavenge devices to tinker with, so when another neighbor replaced their sump pumps, I grabbed the old units. After a little wiring adjustment, I rigged a 12 volt pump to an old but functional car battery. Took a few cycles of charging with their car and then pumping, but that little pump emptied their basement in a few hours.
Even houses like this without a water "problem" can suffer inconvenient and damaging floods during a blackout, or due to failure of their main pump system. An inch more water and the finished part of their basement would have flooded as well. A simple system of charger, deep cycle marine/RV battery, secondary float switch, and a 12 volt backup pump similar to what I used to (excuse the pun) bail them out could have saved them a ton of hassle. Such a system could be assembled from discrete parts, or bought quite cheaply as a kit and quickly installed piggyback style onto the main sump pump. Kits often come with an alarm that sounds to warn that the main pump is not operating and that water has risen enough to trigger the backup system.
If you have a sump pump at home, wait for a heavy rain and observe how often the pump cycles. If you unplug the pump, does water start to rise above floor level? If so, a backup system could save you thousands in damage. Unless you have multiple main pumps and an automatically starting generator or other emergency power system that will take over without human intervention, a battery operated secondary pump is a must.
I like to scavenge devices to tinker with, so when another neighbor replaced their sump pumps, I grabbed the old units. After a little wiring adjustment, I rigged a 12 volt pump to an old but functional car battery. Took a few cycles of charging with their car and then pumping, but that little pump emptied their basement in a few hours.
Even houses like this without a water "problem" can suffer inconvenient and damaging floods during a blackout, or due to failure of their main pump system. An inch more water and the finished part of their basement would have flooded as well. A simple system of charger, deep cycle marine/RV battery, secondary float switch, and a 12 volt backup pump similar to what I used to (excuse the pun) bail them out could have saved them a ton of hassle. Such a system could be assembled from discrete parts, or bought quite cheaply as a kit and quickly installed piggyback style onto the main sump pump. Kits often come with an alarm that sounds to warn that the main pump is not operating and that water has risen enough to trigger the backup system.
If you have a sump pump at home, wait for a heavy rain and observe how often the pump cycles. If you unplug the pump, does water start to rise above floor level? If so, a backup system could save you thousands in damage. Unless you have multiple main pumps and an automatically starting generator or other emergency power system that will take over without human intervention, a battery operated secondary pump is a must.