so much for my plans for this morning

[rmd]

SUMP PUMP EMERGENCY!

that motor-purring noise i'd been hearing up the plumbing chase was not, as i'd thought, one or another of the oil burners doing their thing. nono! it was the sump pump trying to push water and failing. it's been doing that for a while, now.

i swapped in the cold-swap pump, but it has similar behavior -- it worked for a bit and then shut off because it was wedged. clearly, something's up with the pvc line that feeds into the main sewer drain. i even tried removing the one-way valve in case that was fucking up, but that wasn't it.

now where the bloody hell did i put my plumbing snake?
*stompstompstomp*

Comments

[cz_unit]

Weird. So the problem is in the post-pump piping?

CZ

[rmd.livejournal.com]

yeah, i got a snake nearly all the way thru to where it joins up with the main sewer piping, but i have pulled out a bit of mud and i can't seem to get any further (there's another 90 deg bend that i think is keeping me from getting thru)

so i picked up some pipe, a new one-way valve while i was at it (the old one had been semi-busted for a while), assorted fittings, and some pvc cement and i'll rebuild that last corner and pull whatever cruft out of it i can and make it more snakable in case this ever happens again.

[ceo]

Your sump pump's output goes into the sewer? Isn't that kind of, um, illegal?

[rmd.livejournal.com]

is it? i had no idea. the various inspectors never mentioned it. (housing, before i bought it, and the occupancy inspector dude before i rented to my current tenant (that inspection is the reason i have railings on my basement stairs now))

[ceo]

Hmmm, maybe it isn't. I know it's illegal to have one's downspouts drain into the sewer (which used to be common), and I thought it might be the same for sump pumps, as in both cases it's rainwater going into the sewer system.