Pump water from under floor... where to (long term)

[JohnHamer1977]

Hi all, sorry if this is in the wrong bit.

I’m pumping out some water from under the floor. It’s always down there but a recent blocked drain made it stink .

Currently the hose from the pump is coming out through the hallway then out the front door and into a drain.
The pump has an auto switch, I could leave it down there but where would the hose go and where would I pump too?

 

[KenGMac]

JohnHamer1977, good evening.

OK as I understand it??

A/. Your sub floor area has for some time been flooded / flooding?
B/. Recently there has been an influx of sewage?

Have you had the "original" water tested? how long has the water been "flooding" the sub floor area?

Ditto for the "newer" smelly water?

How old is the property?

I have seen a few properties that have "flooded" underfloor areas, some have semi-submersible float actuated pumps to clear the water. The pump is generally sited in a sump.

Have you asked for assistance in this matter from the local to you Environmental Health department? or your home Insurer? Do you know of any other properties that have the same problems as you are faced with?

At this point, I must come clean, I work as an Insurance Claims Surveyor as such [as above] i have surveyed and worked on several of these types of insurance Claims, which if you have home Insurance, this is an Insurance claim?

Ken.

 

[foxhole]

What’s the source of the water?

 

[JohnHamer1977]

Hi ken,
No... nothing’s been tested. What does testing do?
Yes... it’s always been flooded.
The smellier water I’m thinking was due to a blocked drain at the back.
House was built late 1930’s I think.
No, I’ve not asked for help from environmental health, I didn’t know I could. And no, it’s not for insurance.

Foxhole - I don’t know. Maybe the water table?

 

[foxhole]

You should not have water under your floors , need investigating , unlikely to be ground water , more likely your drains are damaged allowing rainwater under .

 

[KenGMac]

JohnHamer1977, good evening again.

Testing the water under the floor is a specialised process, there are a few companies that undertake this type of work, but? it aint cheap.

The test will determine if there is any Fecal material present and it also indicates if the water has been "processed" that is does it contain chlorine? indicating a leaky water main, a more costly test can tell if there is any soap in the water.

OK you do not want to go down the home Insurance route, do you have insurance from a firm like "Homeserve" Who offer Insurance cover for all white goods, Electrics, and underground drains and water feed pipework?

If it were me and I was acting as an Insurance Surveyor.
A/. Get the water tested, you then know what type of lead you are tracing ? water or Sewer?
B/. instruct a full CCTV survey all drains.
C/. Repair whatever was fractured.
D/. Pump out and sanitise the underfloor area, removing any contaminated material.
E/. install a polythene DPM over-layed with a layer of concrete.

As you can see all of the above is going to be costly? hence my original suggestion involve your Home Insurer?

Ken.

 

[JohnHamer1977]

Thanks for the reply’s. I don’t have insurance unfortunately so it’s a DIY job I think.

I’ve got united utilities coming out to see if it’s leaking from any of there pipes.

Other than that I think it’s water table water... if it is I think it will just have to stay wet!! I’ve been pumping water out for 2 days now

 

[foxhole]

Highly unlikely to be water table that high , your property would be floating down the street.

 

[Ian H]

Try and get them to dye test all your drains with different colours.

 

[JohnHamer1977]

It still smells and keeps filling up.
UU due tested and nothing came through they could see but they didn’t crawl under. I’m still at a loss ‍

 

[Ian H]

When you dye test you really need to hammer the drains with the dye and water.

If you start to pump out now it could help the dye come to where you can see it.

 

[KenGMac]

JohnHamer1977, good evening again.

Did the UU undertake tests for fecal or soap content or did they just undertake a dye test?

Suggest you start chucking dye down the drains, the dye is easily available from plumbers merchants Etc. just be sure to put the same dye down the same drain every time, suggest you dose the drains for about a week if you can dose the systems every day, especially if it is raining, use plenty of Dye ! !

Ken.

 

[JohnHamer1977]

Just the dye tests Ken.
They put a camera down there own line they said and couldn’t see anything.

Okay I’ll get some dyes myself and try it over next week. Thanks for the advice