#Outdoor sewage ejector pump system code#

Instead, run a thick wire pair (or two pairs) from the sump/tank/cistern/whatever to the house - I used landscape wire, 14 gauge - way overkill, but waterproof, and l had a long run to do. Your basement is worth it.ĭ) Do NOT rely on wireless. But best to get rid of the splice altogether - abandon that wire under the patio altogether, and run a new one from the panel to the pump. They make proper splice kits, with set screws, which I expect would work better. That includes plugs, of course, but I fear that your wire nuts also fall into that category. You don't want any joints of any sort that can corrode and cause problems. Rewire if necessary - it's cheaper to run a new cable all the way from the breaker panel to the pump now than it is to tear out everything your basement due to mold and fungus fears, etc. Bigger is fine, if your pump is bigger - but even if your pump is small, the last thing you want is a partially-blocked or iced up outlet to add enough back-pressure so that the pump blows a 15 amp breaker instead of starting the way it should.Ĭ) Get rid of all splices and plugs. The same is true where I live now - GFIs are not recommended for use with sump or septic pumps.Įnsure the pump is on its own private circuit, with nothing else on its breaker - and make sure the wire is at least 12 gauge (for short runs) or 10 gauge (which I have now for a longer run), and the breaker is rated at 20 amps.

#Outdoor sewage ejector pump system code#

Even when I lived in Chicago - the Midwest's most over-regulated, over-building-coded, over-inspected, (and overly-corrupt, but that's another topic) city - they not only did they make an exception in the code so that they didn't require GFIs for sump pumps, they actually went so far in my community to specifically recommend to residents that their sump pumps be on a non-GFI circuits. So, here's what I've learned over the years, and would suggest you consider:Ī) Double-check the regulations where you live regarding that GFI. We escaped from Chicago, finally - and our new house doesn't need a sump, but due to geography and strict regulations, it needs a lift pump in the septic tank instead - and it's just as important to keep THAT operational as the blasted sump pump in the old house was. I spent 20 years in a house (near Chicago) where keeping the sump pump operational was a requirement - I was lucky that I just needed the sump pump my neighbor across the back yard needed the whole french drain system and went through pumps every couple of years. I would like to log how often the pump runs I'm concerned if anything is in the pit trying to transmit out, that it won't get out. The pit is in the ground with a very heavy solid industrial metal lid (metal like a sewer cover).

Any devices I put outside to monitor this will need to be housed in something weatherproof

I likely need to monitor for pump not working via monitoring water level I need to monitor to know if there is power loss, need notifications Maybe I put the outlet back in the pit? Ugh. Challenge is that it runs under a patio and into the house. I've got to resolve the power splice issue. The pump originally had it's power outlet in the pit itself which must have gotten wet at some point because I found it dead last year and so I spliced the wire and moved the outlet to the outside of the pit. My challenge is that the wiring to it has a splice that must be getting wet and it trips the gfci and I never know. I've got a sump pump outdoors in a pit for the french drains around the house.