The truth is that most of us never think of sump pumps – except when they begin to fail or shut down completely. In Park Ridge, Illinois and the surrounding communities, sump pumps are essential. Sump pumps eliminate the ground water seepage into homes and businesses as part of the natural process of building structures with basements.

Green Tech Plumbing offers a product complete line of new, professional grade Primary Sump Pumps, Back-up Sump Pumps and Combination Sump Pumps, as well as Sump Pump Accessories. We also service Sump Pumps of all makes and models.

Since we rarely think of sump pumps, our customers often ask us how we know when a pump is failing. Here is a list of common problems and also a few suggestions of things you can do to anticipate those problems.

• The Pump is Shut Down – The sump pump turns off when the power to the house turns off, just like your refrigerator. Green Tech Plumbing strongly recommends a battery powered backup or a hybrid sump pump which runs on house current or can switch to battery power in an emergency.
• Pump is Working, But Basement is Flooding – It’s no secret that in new home or business construction, builders will frequently install the cheapest sump pump they can source. In some cases, for example after continuous, heavy rains a cheap pump with a low horsepower may become overwhelmed. The best strategy is to buy a more powerful pump or to use a back-up pump.
• The Pump Sounds like It is Always Working – Sump pumps have different kinds of switches that respond to water levels. When the pump senses rising water seepage, it is supposed to turn on when the levels go down, the pump turns off. However the switches can fail. Although switches can be replaced, we recommend a new sump pump installation.
• Beware of Park Ridge Winters! If we are going through a really cold spell, and the basement has no insulation, or if the plumbing away from the pump itself was incorrectly positioned, the frigid weather may cause a clogging and flooding. Please call Green Tech Plumbing for emergency sump pump service; we can unblock the pipes, properly position the outflow connections and give you several environmentally safe tips for improving insulation.
• A five to seven year window. A sump pump is no different than your dishwasher, HVAC system or vacuum cleaner; it will fail after several years of continuous use. If you call us and say that it looks as though your pump has stopped running (but the power is on), two of the first questions we will probably ask is the age of the home or building and when the last time the pump was replaced.

Green Tech Plumbing: Environmental Sump Pump Solutions

At Green Tech Plumbing, “Green Considerations” are always first and foremost in our solutions to any of your plumbing problems. We will choose the best sump pump for your particular situation. A smaller pump may initially be cheaper, but it will waste a lot of energy and can get easily challenged. On the other hand a sump pump that is too large is also energy inefficient and is too expensive for your needs.