Lisab, as I understand them, water pressure back-ups don't just utilize pressure, they use lots city water to pull the sump water out by Venturi effect. This effectively mixes the clean and dirty water and leaves to copious amounts of water pouring out, which eventually goes to a storm sewer (of course, it is even worse they dump it right into a sanitary sewer). If it is a very active sump like Rusty's it would take a remarkable amount of city water to pump the sump water up 8 feet, if it could even do it. Doesn't that all that extra water contribute to straining the storm sewers, probably at the worst possible time (when it is already very wet/raining)? If many people use these and storm sewers are overwhelmed, won't flooding be that much worse? And, if enough people use them, won't the water supply be burdened? While the individual paying the water bill should care, I think the municipality should care, too. Rusty, is there any place downhill from your basement where you could drain your sump by gravity to daylight? It seems unlikely with the waterflow you describe, but, it would be the best solution by far if it were possible.

The tank is buried in a hole that is at least 2 feet wider and 2 feet longer than the tank. The hole is deep enough that only the piping stack shows when filled in, probably putting the top of the tank at least a foot under. The bottom of the hole has to be deep enough that it can be backfilled with rock-free sand. The entire tank is eventually filled in with filtered sand. In areas subject to flood or high ground water level, a concrete pad is poured into the bottom of the hole and the tank is chained to it so the tank won't rise out of the ground. The underground tanks are epoxy painted, and electrically bonded to a bag of magnesium to act as a sacrificial corrosion element. Your propane dealer should have means to test this periodically for efficacy. Put the bag in a location near the propane tank where it can be dug up without much risk to the tank. It should be at least as deep as the bottom of the tank, and watered in before the tank space is filled. (Be sure that the bag is removed from its shipping box before placement.) I don't recall hearing a tank lifetime value, but the magnesium will have to be replaced periodically depending on soil moisture, acidity, and other factors. Your local propane dealer should provide information. In addition to the tank hole, you also have to trench to the generator pad, and trench from the generator to the transfer switch. Don't put the generator next to the house, and ensure that it has total "air rights" above it. According to my town's fire code inspector who was once a fireman, generator fires are quite spectacular. Don't skimp on the power feed conductors; you don't want to waste some of your power heating the ground. Large conductors are not limp. Use 2-inch PVC conduit for the power feed from the generator to make wire pulling easy. Use an expansion joint at each end above ground. The control wiring conduit can be smaller. Most of the detail you will leave to your electrician unless you are qualified yourself, and in that case you will have means to find out. kas

I'll answer part of your question by saying that RW DVDs become less reliable over time as you write over them. Since I presume these are important files that you want to save, rather than change all the time, go with regular, name brand, good quality, single use DVDs...they're cheap. One DVD typically holds about 4.7 GB, and I presume that you will be prompted if you need more discs, but I don't know exactly how this works as I backup on an external hard drive. You might wish to consider that option as you can get a good, large hard drive for under $80 and it will do all of this automatically for you.

Back up is such a vast category it is a little difficult to make suggestions wihtout knowing the users goal. Some want it for data storage, a picture repository, a software backup or a duplicate of their HD. I personally believe too many users want back up for fear that "the sky might fall" when in reality all they need is off-system storage. I would suggest a complete research of an external HD for Win98. Many of them are limited to Win98SE. Do you by chance know if you have Win98OE or SE? Depending on your use and the availability of a USB port a thumbdrive may be a viable solution. DA