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Would I have flow issues if I hookup a 1hp sump pump along with a 3/4hp sump pump with a wye?

Home Improvement Asked by mrfixit4u on November 1, 2021

Backstory. I own a home that has a driveway that slopes towards the garage. The garage has a grill in front of it to catch all the excess water drainage and dump it outside the house, I presume to main drainage on the street. The garage grill drain is on the same plane as the sump pump pit.

The crux of the problem is that if there is really heavy rain then the sump pit will fill up above the inlets even with the sump pump running and cause the garage grill drain to begin accumulating water, so much so that the water flows into the garage causing flooding.

Right now I have installed a 3/4 hp sump pump – which ensures that the sump pit doesn’t overflow but unfortunately can’t keep up and the water fills above the inlets. I think its only a matter of time.

So long story short, I’d like to add another sump pump in ‘parallel’ to push water out.

Currently this is my solution:

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My question is two fold. Should the 1hp pump be at the bottom or the top? I will be keeping the 3/4hp and would like to utilize it.

Secondly, when both pumps are activated, will there be an issue with flow? Will the PVC explode?

2 Answers

The PVC won't explode, but the performance of two pumps dumping into one (possibly already undersized, just based on many sump installations I've seen where pipe size was cheaped out on) pipe the same size will be much lower than individual pipes, or a pipe of increased diameter after the join.

Examine your pump(s) - if there is any reducer on the outflow piping, you might want to start with simply increasing the pipe attached to the maximum diameter that the pump is natively designed to connect. If you propose to join two discharges together, you should be increasing the discharge size to compensate for that (as well as having a check valve on each individual pipe so that one does not pump backwards though the other.)

If joining two 2" pipes, you need a 3" pipe to take the full flow of both (pipe capacity is proportional to the square of the diameter.) Likewise, using a 1.5" pipe when your pump will take a 2" pipe is not 75% capacity, it's 56%

Answered by Ecnerwal on November 1, 2021

I did something similar using two pumps with 2” copper pipes.

Pumps and connections were designed to run in series and individually.

What is needed is non-return valves for each pump so they cannot backfeed.

Answered by Solar Mike on November 1, 2021

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