Sump Pump design, installation and operation is a problematic issue in the Metro Vancouver, as its failure may cause a disaster! I’ve seen many residential and commercial buildings with flooded basement during my tenure in North Shore; some of them during construction and some after occupation. It doesn’t matter if there is a luxury home theater there or just a normal basement; what matter is the huge consequences, and we as hydraulic designer of sump pumps try to put together with other disciplines in construction industry to solve this problem; even dissolve it.
There are several technical uncertainties in sump pump design which should be addressed by designer, and more than that the following aspects are in the scope of work:
- Reserve Pumps
- Cycling
- Alternation
- Power Backup
- Level Control
- Electric Board’s functionality
- Audio/Visual Alerting
- Maintenance and Operation
The last one is the most important topic. The alerting system is a serious issue as well, but not just in an old fashion manner, as it is not smart to wait to face flooding and get alert. We can operate the system more proactively by using the technologies like linking the electrical board with the home security system, if there is any, or we can use the new peripheral devices that enable us to monitor the sump pumps functionality during the operation. There are many of these devices in the shelves of security tech companies and retailers that can work with home Wi-Fi and mobile application.