Sump Pumps in Morrow, GA

Morrow basics

Morrow is a small, diverse city along I-75 anchored by Southlake Mall and Clayton State University. Its housing is older than average: census survey figures put the median home at 1971, with about 62% built before 1980. Many of those homes sit on crawl spaces where a pump was added later, often with a discharge that drains back toward the foundation.

Clayton County Water Authority, headquartered in Morrow, provides water, sewer and stormwater service throughout the county. CCWA's service line ends at the meter; the line from the meter to the house is the owner's. Sump water shouldn't go into CCWA's sewer through a household drain. CCWA also installs backflow devices at customer connections and tests them yearly with its own specialists.

Pumps in Morrow's older homes often have rusted housings, floats that snag on the walls of a small basin and check valves that no longer seal. A pump of unknown age is worth replacing in a dry month rather than waiting for it to quit in a storm, and a battery backup is a simple way to cover a power outage.

What to do now

1. Turn off the pump's breaker if water is near the outlet.
2. With power off, check the float for snags and free it.
3. Restore power. If the motor hums without moving water, turn it off.
4. Check the outdoor end of the discharge for clogs.
5. Move belongings out of the crawl space access area.
6. Note how long the pump has been running.
7. Call a plumber if water keeps rising.

Symptoms and likely causes

Cost factors

• Part repair versus replacing an old pump
• Crawl space height and pit location
• Rerouting a discharge out of a household drain
• Battery backup and alarm
• A plumbing permit from Morrow Planning & Economic Development if piping changes
• Replacing a cracked or silted basin