Water-powered pumps?

Q. Shortly after we moved into our home 44 years ago, construction began on the properties behind us. We ended up with water in our basement after extremely heavy rains. After research, we installed a sump pump and French drains around the perimeter of the basement. For the next 42-plus years, we had no problem. A year and a half ago, we lost electricity for three days, resulting in a wet basement. Our insurance company covered all losses from the water since our sump pump couldn’t work. Tropical Storm Irene put us in the same position again. I’m getting very worried about this occurring again. I’ve been told about a water-powered backup pump that piggybacks on the sump pump and will take over when the water level reaches its float. The principle behind this sounds so logical, but I’ve not been able to find anyone who has actually installed one in their home. People in plumbing supplies are aware of them and say they work, although much more slowly than the sump pump. What do you know about this?

A. I’m aware of the water-driven backup pumps that work off water suction. They work well for no operating cost. They’re slower because of the speed variation in water supply lines that they draw their suction from. These pumps work just like many toilets do, like a sipping straw. Passing water alongside the water you want to move, the still water is pulled along with the suction created as the moving water passes by. You can see demonstrations and how to install videos of the systems on the Internet. Basically, the mechanism you buy is tapped into the water supply pipe at your water meter. Moving water in the outside supply pipe is the source of the force, of course. The important parts of the installation are that the pit where water is collected has to be near the outside supply line as it enters the house at the water meter, and a special device called a back-flow preventer has to be installed. The back-flow prevention device keeps tainted sump pit water from going into the fresh water supply where it can make people sick, or worse.