Question

1. Is it illegal to direct the water (from sump pump) into main sewage line? (I/m in NJ)
2. It would be nice to use this water for the lawn or shrubs, but I don't know of a good way to distribute the water in such fashion. Do you have any suggestions?


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Followup To

Question -
Hi James,

How can I best direct the water from the sump pump in my basement? I had it installed and the pipe goes out about 3 ft from the house. The problem is it now  creates a large puddle in my lawn.


Answer -
howard,
the short answer would be downhill. that may not be practical in your situation. i would also guess that 3 feet is really not far enough away from the foundation to keep the thing from going into a loop during a heavy rain. it's maybe far enough depending on the grade. if it is running back against the foundation it is just filling the sump hole and pumping the same water out over and over.it may be easiest to just run it to your neighbor's yard. i don't know if the neighbor would appreciate that. i guess the best answer is get it to go downhill to some kind of pavement. a sidewalk, street or drive. not all the way to the is needed if you are a cold weather climate where you get a regular freeze every year. if you are in a cold climate there will be a layer of chat or fine rock under a pad made out of concrete or asphalt. it is there to act as a water sump and prevent frost heave of the pad. in addition if you live in a cold climate it may be against a local code to run it all the way to pavement because it may ice up and someone sues. stop it 3-5 feet short if that is the case and dig a big hole/trench and fill it with cheap rock. how far that is might be a lot of work. if it too much or too far to go you could also take it a little further from the house a dig a big gravel sump hole and line it with lanscape fabric. let me know if you need any more help.       Jim

Answer
howard,
it is here in saint louis,mo and i imagine it is there also. if everybody dumped there sump water into sanitary sewers then every time it rained it could overload the sewage, not storm water, system. As far as using the water far your lawn or shrubs i dont see what good that will do since it should only kick on when it is raining anyway. and if it is raining you dont need to water anything. Jim