By David Heffner on 7/4/2010 7:56 AM

The recent June storms in Indianapolis produced over 9 inches of rain which is not a record amount, but still a lot of rain. Needless to say, many basements in the greater Indianapolis area flooded which prompted several people to call about sump pump back-up systems and specifically about water powered systems.Water powered back-up systems work on a Venturi effect and essentially suck water out of the sump pit using a 3/4 inch water line to feed it. There are several problems with these systems however:They don't pump the volume of a water of a conventional sump pump or back-up pump and could be overwhelmed in a heavy rain.There is no way for the system to test itself to make sure that it is working properly.On the Home Guard brand, I have actually been called out on 2 different occasions when the plastic housing had failed and was pouring water into the sump pit. These basements would have flooded had it not been for the primary sump pump working.With back-up systems for sump pumps, I always tell people that...

Read More »