Water powered vacuum pump - sump backup
 

So, I just endured a week without electricity due to 2 ft of snow being dumped on us in just a few hours destroying 70% of the trees and taking down powerlines. 400,000 people without power. Luckily, I had a 2500 watt power invertor and a woodburning fireplace, so it wasn't that bad. I also got to buy a new chainsaw, so I'm ok with it ;) So, before I picked up the invertor (Generators were a 3-4 hour wait and $800+ if your number was called) not many were smart enough to realize you could use your car the same way, lucky me. I was bailing water out of my sump to prevent my basement from flooding and that really sucked, I don't want to have to do that again. I also don't want to worry about it if the power goes out and I'm not home (they've shut it off 3x already to fix the lines around me) To get to the point, I've been researching backup sump pumps and I've determined that the water vacuum type is probably the best. There are 2 of them that I'm looking at the BasePump and the Water Commmander both of which are far to expensive for what they actually are: Water powered vacuum pumps with a shutoff valve. The interesting thing is that both seem to use the same vacuum pump with the valving afterwards being the primary difference. What I'm looking for is the manufacturer of the vacuum pump they both use. That's really all I need and can fabricate the rest myself. If anyone has an idea who makes it, has seen it somewhere or anything close to it, I'd appreciate a heads up. So far I haven't found it on the net, but I've only searched for about and hour so far.

Re: Water powered vacuum pump - sump backup
 

Those just look like a diaphram pilot operated valve set up to start dumping water down the drain, and using it to siphon water from your sump. Think like a sand blaster or a paint gun with the can on the bottom.

The valve looks to be what they have in common, it is set up to use household water pressure to open itself instead of an electric solenoid like a standard popet valve would use. The catch is you need to have gravity fed water (ie city water tower) if you have an electric pump in your own well you would still be screwed.

I did a quick search through my suppliers but havn't found anything, they're mostly industrial type. I'll let you know if I see anything that would work

Re: Water powered vacuum pump - sump backup
 

I only live a few hours from u and we didnt get any snow

Re: Water powered vacuum pump - sump backup
 

i had some snow here a couple weeks back. didnt accumulate but it sure did white everything out.

Re: Water powered vacuum pump - sump backup
 

where are you actually at in buffalo? My family lives about a half hour south near springville, and I'm at school in fredonia. when that storm hit in buffalo, all we had was a sunny but windy day O0 . All my relatives live from hamburg to tonawanda and they all got raped though :'(

Re: Water powered vacuum pump - sump backup
 

Thanks man, I appreciate it. There is no way in hell either of those are worth $300-500. I could design, buy the tools and fabricate one myself for that ;)

I'm in Williamsville, near UB. It's funny. Quite a few of my neighbors traveled to get generators and said it was perfectly clear just past Dunkirk to the south and about halfway to Rochester it cleared up too. I have lots of pics (for insurace purposes initially) I'll post em up when I get home.

Re: Water powered vacuum pump - sump backup
 

I did some more research. It appears the common thing is just a shut off valve that allows for use of a float ball to open/close. The part after the valve is an eductor that creates the vacuum draw. I'm going to play with some PVC tonight and see if I can make one. If you can look for that shut off valve or if you find a good supplier for eductors, let me know.