Sump Pumps in Hapeville, GA

Hapeville basics

Hapeville is a small historic city next to Hartsfield-Jackson with older neighborhoods like Virginia Park. Census survey figures put the median home at 1963, with about 63% built before 1980 and many from the 1940s and 1950s. Pumps in those crawl spaces were nearly always added later, sometimes with makeshift piping.

The City of Hapeville's Water and Sewer Division maintains water and sewer lines; the city buys its water wholesale from Atlanta. The city maintains the line up to and including the meter, and the owner is responsible beyond it. Sump water shouldn't go into the city sewer. Separately, the Water Department encourages sewer backflow preventers on service laterals for buildings connected at or below street level, so a backup in the main doesn't flood the house. That's a different device from a sump pump, but worth asking about at the same visit.

Old crawl spaces can be low, damp and hard to reach, so clear the access door before the plumber arrives and note any wiring near the pit that looks damaged. If water is coming up through a floor drain instead of the pit, tell the plumber, since that points to the sewer lateral rather than the pump.

What to do now

1. Turn off the pump's breaker if water is near the outlet.
2. With power off, check the float and free it.
3. Restore power. If it hums without moving water, turn it off.
4. Check the outdoor outlet for clogs.
5. Move belongings out of the way.
6. Check whether the pump is on a shared outlet or an extension cord.
7. Call a plumber if water keeps rising.

Symptoms and likely causes

Cost factors

• Part repair versus replacing an old pump
• Crawl space access in an older house
• Rerouting a discharge out of a household drain
• Battery backup and alarm
• Adding a sewer backflow preventer on the lateral
• A residential plumbing permit from the city if piping changes