Your sump pump’s alarm goes off when the water level in your sump basin or pit rises to 6 inches below the lid. Most often, this means your pump is malfunctioning, stuck with debris, water is rising faster than the pump can discharge it, or an electrical malfunction. This alarm, which sounds similar to a smoke detector, and requires immediate attention to protect your home from water damage.
How Sump Pump Alarms Work
Sump pump alarms are designed to alert you when the water is too high in the sump basin. The alarm should go off when the water level climbs above the point where the pump would ordinarily turn on. This is a vital function — without an audible (or text/email-capable) alarm to let you know what’s going on down there, how could you know without checking on it personally whether your sump pump system is performing as intended? Sump pump alarms perform the essential task of letting you know of a potentially damaging, messy, expensive flooding problem before it occurs.
Do You Need a Sump Pump Alarm?
Usually the alarm sits on top of the pump, with a probe that extends down into the sump liner. If the water level in the liner climbs above the level where the pump should switch on, the alarm will sound. Other sump pump alarms, called floor alarms, sit on the floor above the sump basin and will go off if they get wet. This seems less than ideal — you want to know about rising water levels before water escapes from the basin, not after — but it’s better than nothing.
You can remove the beeping alarm and set it aside to dry off, and that will make the noise stop — but to prevent costly water damage to your basement or crawl space, you need to find out what’s causing the beeping and solve the problem.
Why Is It Beeping?
There are several possible scenarios causing your sump pump alarm to go off:
- Your pump isn’t receiving power (or enough power). This could be because of a weather event, or a problem with the wiring in your house or in the pump. (NOTE: Power problems are the #1 reason for pump alarms going off.)
- Your pump is malfunctioning, perhaps because it’s old, it’s burned out, or it needs replacing.
- The pump is clogged by debris, dirt, and mud and thus isn’t able to move water efficiently enough (or at all).
- The water level in your house has increased drastically and rapidly due to extreme weather, and your pump isn’t able to keep up.
- Nothing’s actually wrong, but somehow water got on top of your pump and got into the alarm, triggering it to go off.
What Should You Do Once You Hear Your Alarm Go Off?
Check to see if the pump is still operating. The alarm could mean your pump is inundated and struggling to keep up, even if it is still functioning.
If the pump is operating, and the water level doesn’t appear to be high, the problem could be the alarm itself. Check to see that the alarm is clean and dry, and that water isn’t splashing up from the basin or dripping or pouring onto the alarm from some other source (like a leak from the floor above or a drip from some other appliance).
If the pump isn’t operating, address the most likely cause — power — first. Make sure the pump is plugged directly into an outlet, rather than an extension cord or power strip. Then check the outlet to make sure it has power by checking breakers and, if all seems to be in order there, plugging in a lamp or small appliance to test it.
If the outlet turns out not to have power and flipping and resetting the breaker doesn’t solve the problem, call an electrician and plug in your pump elsewhere (it’s OK to use an extension cord temporarily in this instance).
If the outlet is working and the pump appears to be operational, but the water level is inexplicably high, look for other causes for the excess water. Sure, major weather events can be one cause, but you might also have debris in your discharge line or a malfunctioning check valve — either of which could make it difficult for your sump pump system to remove water and keep it out.
If the outlet is working but your pump isn’t, it’s possible your pump has died or the float switch is stuck or snagged. Sump pumps aren’t designed to run 24-7. A pump that’s overworked will eventually fail, and a pump that’s failed — or is well on its way to failing — won’t be able to lower water levels enough to keep the alarm from sounding. If your pump’s been running very frequently, you might need to replace it, perhaps with a more powerful pump. You might need to install an additional pump to keep up with the water flowing into your sump basin. Either way, this might be the time to call in a professional.
How to Monitor Your Sump Pump Water Level
Modern sump pump alarms often include smart features, such as sending texts to your cell phone when the situation with your sump pump requires your attention. Connected to your wifi, these alarms allow remote monitoring of your property, creating peace of mind when you can’t be there to monitor the situation personally. Many models combine an audible alarm you can hear while present at the property along with text, email, and/or app alerts you can access from anywhere.
Here is a selection of wifi-enabled sump pump alarms from Amazon
And here is a list of reviewed and rated wifi-enabled alarms
What if My Sump Pump Alarm Goes Off Frequently?
If you’re getting frequent alarms and you can’t identify an obvious source like splashing or dripping from above, and the pump appears to be working OK, you might have a power supply problem. Consider installing a secondary pump or a battery backup to prevent the problem.
Whatever you do, don’t remove the alarm — it’s your early warning system for serious potential flooding problems and an essential part of your waterproofing system.