Learn Me Some Drywells & Automatic Sump Pumps

[C-Bag]

Drainage is always site specific.

Man is that an understatement! I’d never paid attention to drainage until I was at aircraft school and I was living in a 22’ travel trailer. The little place I was staying at was out in the boonies and had a dirt parking space next to the trailer. I was there for 3 winters and the first one I had to park next to the road because my parking space was a lake. Got to know the neighbor behind me and one day I came home and the standing lake was gone. At the end of it was like a coffee can halfway in the ground. Neighbor had dug a hole about the size of the coffee can where you could just see the end. Whenever it rained he pulled out that coffee can and there was no water in the space, ever. He told me all you had to do was go down about 10-12” and the water would be below the crust and just absorb. No gravel, just a hole. Worked like a charm. Obviously I was thinking of that when I saw that wave crash around the garage and hit the gate.

 

[Gnpenning]

Around here we have people that can do underground horizontal drilling. Anywhere from septic lines to underground utilities. No need to block roads or tear up concrete or destroy your yard.

I would look into that as a option while working with the proper jurisdiction.

For any immediate need I would just run a line on top of the ground and pump what you can.

 

[OCJohn]

@C-Bag just notice your location. Yeah, you folks got hammered up there. I lived on Los Osos Valley Road in college. Love that area.

 

[C-Bag]

Yup, we had our first ever tornado alert the other day last year at this time a badly maintained holding pond broke during another atmospheric river and sent a 4’ wave of mud and debris across the field into 20 houses causing lots of damage. We were lucky because the lay of the hillside the flood was down hill from us. Some our neighbors sustained lots of damage. It’s all fixed and county insurance restored those houses.

 

[EricB]

All mechanical switches fail. I went through 5 on my Zoeller sump pump before I changed to a solid state Levelguard. That was about ten years ago. I'm still using the original 17 year old Zoeller pump with the mechanical switch and float removed. I've not had any failures since. Unfortunately Levelguard went out of business. There are similar products available.

Eric

 

[OCJohn]

All mechanical switches fail. I went through 5 on my Zoeller sump pump before I changed to a solid state Levelguard. That was about ten years ago. I'm still using the original 17 year old Zoeller pump with the mechanical switch and float removed. I've not had any failures since. Unfortunately Levelguard went out of business. There are similar products available.

Eric

Something like this?

 

[EricB]

Something like this?

Whatever you decide to use it must be able to handle the startup current of the pump. I would look for a device designed for use with a sump pump, like a HydroCheck HC6000v2. (I have not used this product)

Eric