{"id":2535,"date":"2021-07-09T06:00:46","date_gmt":"2021-07-09T06:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/knightplumbing.ca\/guide-to-sump-pumps-in-calgary-how-do-they-work-do-i-really-need-one\/"},"modified":"2025-04-26T03:37:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T03:37:15","slug":"guide-to-sump-pumps-in-calgary-how-do-they-work-do-i-really-need-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?p=2535","title":{"rendered":"Guide To Sump Pumps In Calgary: How Do They Work & Do I Really Need One?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A sump pump<\/a> is the kind of household device that is practically worth its weight in gold. Even if you only use it once, a sump pump will spare you a tremendous amount of hassle and grief. Learn all about this very handy appliance — what it is, how it works, and why you need one.<\/p>\n

What Is A Sump Pump And Sump Pit?<\/h2>\n
\"\"

Brand new sump pump for suctioning collected ground water from a sump pit such as in a basement of a house<\/p><\/div>\n

The definition of a sump pump<\/strong> is an electrically powered pump designed for basement flood prevention<\/a>. It accomplishes this purpose by pumping the excess water out of a sump pit. The pump may be manufactured from plastic, steel, or cast iron. Cast iron is the sturdiest material, with the added advantage of keeping the motor cool.<\/p>\n

A sump pit<\/strong> is a hole cut in the floor of your basement or crawlspace to collect groundwater. This pit is usually positioned in a corner and should be at least 60 cm in diameter by 60-90 cm deep.<\/p>\n

How Does A Sump Pump Work?<\/h2>\n

The sump pump, once it’s been connected to an electrical outlet (no need for special wiring!), will monitor the water level in your sump pit using a float activator or pressure sensor.<\/p>\n

When the water rises abnormally high (most commonly during heavy springtime<\/a> precipitation), the pump will automatically switch on. As it pumps the excess water out through a discharge pipe, the liquid is channelled to a storm drain, ditch, or your lawn… safely away from your home’s foundation. A check valve between the pipe and your pump prevents any water from flowing back into the pit.<\/p>\n

Some sump pumps are equipped with filters, although the pump-action may be hindered if these get clogged. A Wi-Fi sump pump will alert you of flooding in real-time.<\/p>\n

Why Do I Need A Sump Pump?<\/h2>\n

A sump pump is vital to protect your basement against floods caused by rising groundwater. Calgary tends to experience heavy amounts of rain and melting snow during our spring thaw<\/a>, with flooding as a consequence. A flooded basement has two disastrous effects on your home:<\/p>\n

1) the short-term problem of how to get rid of huge quantities of water<\/p>\n

2) the long-term devastating water damage in the form of rotted floors, rusted appliances, mould, insect infestation, and possible erosion of the foundation over time.<\/p>\n

You especially need a sump pump if you’ve had the experience of basement flooding in the past. The “micro-geography” of your yard might make you more vulnerable. Poor drainage, a plot that is relatively flat or below water table level, and ground sloping toward your foundation all create the conditions for a flood-prone property.<\/p>\n

A sump pump is also a must when you have invested in a finished basement. Unfortunately, a flood could destroy your investment within a few hours — unless you have the protection of a sump pump.<\/p>\n

Last but not least, sump pump installation may be a requirement of your homeowners’ insurance policy.<\/p>\n

Pedestal Vs. Submersible Sump Pump<\/h2>\n

Pedestal sump pumps<\/strong>, which are located above ground and utilize an intake pipe, are simpler to install, maintain, and replace. They are long-lasting and inexpensive. However, their small motors (normally only 1\/3 HP) overheat easily.<\/p>\n

Submersible sump pumps<\/strong> are installed below ground in the sump pit itself. With a more powerful motor of \u00bd to 1 HP (which is kept cool by the surrounding water), Quieter can cope with solids like gravel, sludge, and waste. A submersible does take up more room in the sump pit, so it may not be suitable for a pitless than 60 centimetres in diameter.<\/p>\n

Do I Need A Battery Backup For My Sump Pump?<\/h2>\n

It is wise to back up your primary sump pump in case of an electrical power outage — as is all too common during storms. An additional pump with a heavy-duty rechargeable battery will provide up to 30 hours of protection when the grid is down.<\/p>\n

How Long Do Sump Pumps Last?<\/h2>\n

A pedestal will last from 25-30 years, while a submersible will last 5-15.<\/p>\n

For either type, basic maintenance helps to extend its life. Oil moving parts once a year as specified by the manufacturer. Clean the filter trap (if any) 3 to 4 times a year.<\/p>\n

In addition, testing the pump Is important to ensure it won’t fail in an emergency. Just pour a few buckets of water into the pit to make sure the pump kicks in. Not sure whether your sump pump is working as it should? Ask a plumber for a professional inspection.<\/p>\n

Knight Is The Address For Expert Sump Pump Service<\/h2>\n

Are you ready to protect your home against basement flooding? Contact our Calgary plumbing<\/a> team for reliable sump pump service, including repair, tune-up, and installation.<\/p>\n

REQUEST SUMP PUMP SERVICE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A sump pump is the kind of household device that is practically worth its weight in gold. Even if you only use it once, a sump pump will spare you a tremendous amount of hassle and grief. Learn all about this very handy appliance — what it is, how it works, and why you need […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plumbing-tips"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nYou Need A Sump Pump If You Live in Calgary\u2014Here\u2019s Why - Knight Plumbing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many neighbourhoods in Calgary are flood prone, which means that you need a sump pump to keep your home flood-free. Save yourself the money and the hassle.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?p=2535\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"You Need A Sump Pump If You Live in Calgary\u2014Here\u2019s Why - Knight Plumbing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many neighbourhoods in Calgary are flood prone, which means that you need a sump pump to keep your home flood-free. Save yourself the money and the hassle.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?p=2535\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Services in Calgary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KnightPlumbingHeatingandAirConditioning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-09T06:00:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-26T03:37:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sump_pump_new_plumbing.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"422\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"281\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Handiaz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Handiaz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"You Need A Sump Pump If You Live in Calgary\u2014Here\u2019s Why - Knight Plumbing","description":"Many neighbourhoods in Calgary are flood prone, which means that you need a sump pump to keep your home flood-free. Save yourself the money and the hassle.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?p=2535","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"You Need A Sump Pump If You Live in Calgary\u2014Here\u2019s Why - Knight Plumbing","og_description":"Many neighbourhoods in Calgary are flood prone, which means that you need a sump pump to keep your home flood-free. Save yourself the money and the hassle.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?p=2535","og_site_name":"Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Services in Calgary","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KnightPlumbingHeatingandAirConditioning\/","article_published_time":"2021-07-09T06:00:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-26T03:37:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":422,"height":281,"url":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sump_pump_new_plumbing.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dan Handiaz","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Handiaz","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?p=2535#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?p=2535"},"author":{"name":"Dan Handiaz","@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/05ef77d57a7f85b079af0281337fdc2e"},"headline":"Guide To Sump Pumps In Calgary: How Do They Work & Do I Really Need One?","datePublished":"2021-07-09T06:00:46+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-26T03:37:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?p=2535"},"wordCount":825,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?p=2535#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sump_pump_new_plumbing.jpg","articleSection":["Plumbing Tips"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?p=2535","url":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?p=2535","name":"You Need A Sump Pump If You Live in Calgary\u2014Here\u2019s Why - Knight Plumbing","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?p=2535#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?p=2535#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sump_pump_new_plumbing.jpg","datePublished":"2021-07-09T06:00:46+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-26T03:37:15+00:00","description":"Many neighbourhoods in Calgary are flood prone, which means that you need a sump pump to keep your home flood-free. Save yourself the money and the hassle.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?p=2535#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?p=2535"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?p=2535#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sump_pump_new_plumbing.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sump_pump_new_plumbing.jpg","width":422,"height":281},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?p=2535#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Guide To Sump Pumps In Calgary: How Do They Work & Do I Really Need One?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/","name":"Knight Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Services in Calgary","description":"Knight Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/#organization"},"alternateName":"Knight Calgary HVAC","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/#organization","name":"Knight Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Services in Calgary","alternateName":"Knight HVAC","url":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/knight.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/knight.png","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"Knight Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Services in Calgary"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KnightPlumbingHeatingandAirConditioning\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/05ef77d57a7f85b079af0281337fdc2e","name":"Dan Handiaz","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6705b7e4c06df17d25aed17836ee7735b58e1c75ac4d0a2abb4ba42e63646ce7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6705b7e4c06df17d25aed17836ee7735b58e1c75ac4d0a2abb4ba42e63646ce7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6705b7e4c06df17d25aed17836ee7735b58e1c75ac4d0a2abb4ba42e63646ce7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Handiaz"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightplumbing.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}