Replacing a sump pump -- plumber recommendations?

[Anonymous]

We plan to replace our sump pump soon. Ours came with the house when we bought it.

If you have a plumber who installed a sump pump and did a good job, please share the name.

We're in Bethesda.

TIA.

[Anonymous]

Any plumber can replace a sump pump. It's simple and quick, should cost around $700. Consider adding a batter back-up also, about $1500 installed.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, we have a back-up battery for the current pump and will get that replaced, too.

We will also want the plumber to redirect the discharge pipe in our backyard.

-OP

[Anonymous]

ME Flow did ours a few weeks ago (our old one failed in heavy rain and flooded our basement-ugh!). It was almost exactly $1500 for the unit plus battery backup.

[Anonymous]

Fyi battery backups don't last that long - only 6-8 hours. The water pressure system is more expensive, but can run indefinitely during a power outage.

[Anonymous]

Consider adding a J10 Liberty water back up instead. Standard marine battery will only run for about 8 hours on a full charge. I've had power loss for much longer than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ME Flow did ours a few weeks ago (our old one failed in heavy rain and flooded our basement-ugh!). It was almost exactly $1500 for the unit plus battery backup.

Thank you for the suggestion of a plumber.

-- OP

[Anonymous]

We use Magnolia, it’s expensive but easy.

[Anonymous]

We used AM Bell Plumbing for some tasks recently and they did a great job. The company was formerly called Durance Plumbing.

[Anonymous]

Why would you need to hire anyone. It is like a 20 minute job as hard as changing a lightbulb

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fyi battery backups don't last that long - only 6-8 hours. The water pressure system is more expensive, but can run indefinitely during a power outage.

That's not true at all. A typical one will be rated for 7 hours of run time. That's total run time. They typically run about 10 seconds at a time, until the basin fills up again. It can run for several days, if not a week at that rate. Water powered back-ups are a very bad idea and waste a LOT of water to run the pump. Can't be used with well water, obviously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fyi battery backups don't last that long - only 6-8 hours. The water pressure system is more expensive, but can run indefinitely during a power outage.

That's not true at all. A typical one will be rated for 7 hours of run time. That's total run time. They typically run about 10 seconds at a time, until the basin fills up again. It can run for several days, if not a week at that rate. Water powered back-ups are a very bad idea and waste a LOT of water to run the pump. Can't be used with well water, obviously.

No they are not a bad idea. They are much more reliable than a battery. And a typical crock takes 60 seconds to empty, not 10. The battery backup also doesn't power the main pump. It runs a much smaller pump that is easily overpowered during heavy rains.

It is true that municipal water powered pumps use city water to drain the crock (about one gallon of city water to pull two gallons from the crock) but they drain as quickly as your main pump, can't be over powered and essentially never fail. Most people are fine with spending $0.12 in water to keep their basement dry during a power outage. Keep in mind that deep cell marine batteries used to power battery back up pumps run about $300 and last for 5 years at best, more like 3 years usually. You'd have to run the water pump for three months straight to use $300 of water where I live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fyi battery backups don't last that long - only 6-8 hours. The water pressure system is more expensive, but can run indefinitely during a power outage.

That's not true at all. A typical one will be rated for 7 hours of run time. That's total run time. They typically run about 10 seconds at a time, until the basin fills up again. It can run for several days, if not a week at that rate. Water powered back-ups are a very bad idea and waste a LOT of water to run the pump. Can't be used with well water, obviously.

No they are not a bad idea. They are much more reliable than a battery. And a typical crock takes 60 seconds to empty, not 10. The battery backup also doesn't power the main pump. It runs a much smaller pump that is easily overpowered during heavy rains.

It is true that municipal water powered pumps use city water to drain the crock (about one gallon of city water to pull two gallons from the crock) but they drain as quickly as your main pump, can't be over powered and essentially never fail. Most people are fine with spending $0.12 in water to keep their basement dry during a power outage. Keep in mind that deep cell marine batteries used to power battery back up pumps run about $300 and last for 5 years at best, more like 3 years usually. You'd have to run the water pump for three months straight to use $300 of water where I live.

This. Water is always better, but running pipes to the pump's location can be cost prohibitive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fyi battery backups don't last that long - only 6-8 hours. The water pressure system is more expensive, but can run indefinitely during a power outage.

That's not true at all. A typical one will be rated for 7 hours of run time. That's total run time. They typically run about 10 seconds at a time, until the basin fills up again. It can run for several days, if not a week at that rate. Water powered back-ups are a very bad idea and waste a LOT of water to run the pump. Can't be used with well water, obviously.

No they are not a bad idea. They are much more reliable than a battery. And a typical crock takes 60 seconds to empty, not 10. The battery backup also doesn't power the main pump. It runs a much smaller pump that is easily overpowered during heavy rains.

It is true that municipal water powered pumps use city water to drain the crock (about one gallon of city water to pull two gallons from the crock) but they drain as quickly as your main pump, can't be over powered and essentially never fail. Most people are fine with spending $0.12 in water to keep their basement dry during a power outage. Keep in mind that deep cell marine batteries used to power battery back up pumps run about $300 and last for 5 years at best, more like 3 years usually. You'd have to run the water pump for three months straight to use $300 of water where I live.

I work in this industry and I've never seen a pump run 60 seconds to empty a typical sump basin with typical 1/3 HP pump unless it's a water powered pump which is a very low volume per minute pump. And we use a very large basin. The water powered pumps are very under-powered compared to a battery pump. The GPH rating is about half that of a battery back-up pump and the installation is a lot more involved and expensive. We typically see about 8 years from a battery and the pumps last nearly forever because they are only used as back-up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fyi battery backups don't last that long - only 6-8 hours. The water pressure system is more expensive, but can run indefinitely during a power outage.

That's not true at all. A typical one will be rated for 7 hours of run time. That's total run time. They typically run about 10 seconds at a time, until the basin fills up again. It can run for several days, if not a week at that rate. Water powered back-ups are a very bad idea and waste a LOT of water to run the pump. Can't be used with well water, obviously.

I disagree with your assessments. An extended power shortage will drain the emergency back-up, basement floods, resulting in the emergency battery underwater and battery acid floating in the mix. A municipal siphon pump only operates when the float rises and opens the valve, and frankly, if the basement floods, the water necessary to activate the municipal siphon pump presents a minor cost compared to the potential flood damage and contamination.
Batteries lose their charge over time if not recharged.