The song goes, “It never rains in California.” Well, that certainly hasn’t been true this year! We’ve received some record-breaking rainfall in southern California this winter. Although it doesn’t rain here often, when it does rain, it can rain a lot. 

When you combine this with the fact that California doesn’t have a great system in place for collecting rainwater, it can spell disaster. Areas that have been burned by wildfires are prone to flooding because the soil can’t absorb the rainwater. Far too often, the result is flooding in homes’ lower levels. When heavy rains strike and your home is prone to flooding in its lower levels, you could have a very serious problem on your hands.

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Tags: Irvine, Sump Pump
Posted in Plumbing | Comments Off on Sump Pumps in Orange County: What You Should Know

You may know the purpose of a sump pump, which is the removal of excess water from a low part of a house, usually due to flooding or moisture gathering from a high water table. The pump part of the name is obvious enough, since these devices pump the water away and into the wastewater system. But what is the sump part of the name mean, and is it important to know?

Saddleback Plumbing has installed sump pumps in Orange County for decades now, so we can give you some details on what a sump is and why it’s important. If you want a sump pump in Irvine, CA or elsewhere in Orange County, you only have to give us a call and let us know. We have the experienced technicians capable of handling any plumbing job, no matter the size.

The Sump

The simplest definition of sump is that it’s a low space created to collect any liquid for removal. It can also refer to a place inside a cave where water naturally collects. When referring to an actual sump pump, the sump is a containment area created during the installation of the sump pump. The sump is placed at the lowest point in the basement, where the excess water flows. Depending on the type of sump pump, the pump will either sit above the sump and draw water up into it (a pedestal sump pump) or lie submerged in the sump and push the water up out of it (submersible sump pump).

The size and the location of the sump basin varies. They are usually 2 feet across and 2 to 3 feet deep, holding up to 15 to 25 gallons of water. The professional installer must determine the spot in the basement where the natural sump occurs, and then create the sump basin using a container of plastic, metal, or concrete sunk down into a hole excavated at the location.

This isn’t work an amateur can do; the excavation part alone is too difficult and requires too high a level of precision. If you have a home that is experiencing problems from water in the basement, you need to contact experienced plumbers to take care of finding the right kind of sump pump and then creating the sump basin that will do the job necessary.

Call Saddleback Plumbing today if you have issues in your house from water damage and you want future problems eliminated. We will find the right sump pump in Irvine, CA to suit your needs, and installing it correctly.

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Tags: Irvine, Sump Pump
Posted in Plumbing | Comments Off on What Exactly is the “Sump” in a “Sump Pump”?