frozen sump pump drains

[tjcole50]

Well recently I did some testing and found that immedietly after my sump pump would discharge about 45 seconds later I notice a nice increase in water coming in from my perimeter drain. So what I did was re configured my 1.5" pvc and now have it coming out of the side of the house turning 90 degrees down and dumping into a 6" 10 ft section of pvc with an agrees I've slope away from foundation. I have an air gap between my 1.5 where it exits the house and the 6 inch pvc. Now I'm nervous about potentipotential
freezing where pipe exits the home. My 2 pumps have check valves and I know they hold water in the pvc but I cannot remove them because of the way my back up pump is configured. My current setup is temporary as my old setup has a broken pipe somewhere when it passes through my foundation ... 1.5 ft depth. But the new temporary setup I was thinking about making permanent next spring. What do you think about keeping my same current setup except having my 1.5" house exit dump 90 degrees down into 6" straight down into the ground at 40" deep and running to the rear of my yard into a drywell? No I don't have heavy clay soil. Was also thinking about just coring a hole through foundation at the described depth but that is more work compared to just dumping into a pipe which leads to that depth. Clear as mud? Lol let me hear it!

 

[gzecc]

Agree, clear as mud.

 

[Bret Chase]

If the horizontal section heading out of the house has a pitch to it, there will be no water in it to freeze. The water will remain in the vertical section of the pipe which is inside and above freezing. You have little to worry about.

Both my brother's 2005 house and my 1865 house are set up this way. Neither of ours have frozen.... ever. My house's sump pump has been in the same spot for a very, very long time. My cellar has a mostly dirt floor and granite walls. The only "heat" in there is my oil fired hot water heater, which obviously runs no where near as much as a boiler or furnace would.

burying the sump exit is a bad idea, as it breaks pipes (ground swells with frost, house stays put), as you've found out.


If you keep the air gap, you will be fine.

 

[ozzy73]

My sump exits house ( above ground approx 25' pvc ) and has a minimal slope. Never had issues with freezing.
I agree with Bret about burying the sump exit, bad idea. Frost line here in Ontario Canada is 48".

 

[Bret Chase]

My sump exits house ( above ground approx 25' pvc ) and has a minimal slope. Never had issues with freezing.
I agree with Bret about burying the sump exit, bad idea. Frost line here in Ontario Canada is 48".

I've seen as little frost as 18" and as much as 6' in the dead of winter in southern Maine. I know the OP lives in Ohio.. might want to check codes, but I do know that the state plumbing code here mandates the air gap... What is usually done here is it's run up the basement wall, pipe is 90'd and pitched down... and either just stubs there (outside the building), or is 90'd again, into an airgap fitting which feeds into external drain piping.

 

[tjcole50]

Thanks all! Woman is not happy about my existing ads run of 20 feet toward back yard. I was going to keep it and dump down 90 degrees and keep my air gap of course. But the pipe would go to 40" deep and carry out to the end of property into a drywell.. maybe I will rethink that now or just tell her to put up with the current setup haha