20 May 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The recent rainfall is putting many Kansas homeowners’ sump pumps to use. But seasons of not using the pump before rain can cause it to fail, leading to flooding in basements.
Local plumbers say it is a busy time of year to make sump pump repairs.
“A lot of times during dry seasons, the pits will start to dry up and the pumps won’t run. Then once you start to get a lot of rain, those pumps, because they’ve been dry for so long, don’t work anymore,” explains Gus Bloyer, a journeyman plumber at Benjamin Franklin Plumbing.
Another cause of the flooding is debris caught inside the pump’s pit.
“Some people have drain tiles that drain into there,” says Benjamin Franklin plumber Austin Gonzales. “When the water gets high enough, it’ll kick the float switch on … And then if we kick the pump on, it’s going to be constantly on and it gets the motor hot enough to it will burn it out.”
It’s important to check if your sump pump is working properly.
“You can do that manually by reaching down into the pit or taking some kind of object to lift that float. And then at that point, the pump should kick on and lift the water out of that pit,” says Bloyer.
Plumbers say you can clear debris out of the pump yourself if you feel comfortable, but sometimes the solution is getting a replacement.