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 short answer, I think, is no. Even a small sump pump pulls something like 6 amps (720 watts) so you'd need a pretty large UPS to keep on running for any period of time. From APC's runtime chart a 1500 VA back-up (retail $250) would keep 700 amps running for 5 minutes. Motors have a fairly large in-rush of current on start-up too. I don't know if a UPS is designed to handle that. The pumps sold with battery back-up systems are 12 volts DC, so you couldn't just plug one into a UPS either. It is probably far more cost effective just to buy a automated battery backup sump pump system.

Here's an off the wall solution. A friend of mine lived in an area where there were almost no power outages, even in bad storms. They've experienced maybe 4 outages in 25 years. However, if there was an outage, it might last only 30 minutes at most. In that 30 minutes, their sump would fill up and water would start flowing into the basement. The expense of a full fledged back up system wasn't that justifiable. He kept a oil drum crank handy just in case but wanted something less labor intensive. He was more concerned about the few times a hurricane might come through and, just something as an alternate course of action. We picked up a Xantex 2000 watt inverter with a 4000 watt surge capability, a marine battery and a small solar panel to keep the battery float charged. During one heavy torrential down pour, we put it to the test. We unplugged it from the power and plugged it into the inverter. It worked great for over an hour (when the rain stopped.) Just knowing he had an alternative was good enough for him. With a little more work with a relay, we could have made the system automatically switch over. The good part is, when the battery starts to run down due to long use, you just hook up jumper cables to a car or tractor and you're back in business. We also tested it on his pellet stove and it worked great. Of course this is an "un-packaged" UPS. The cost was around 175 bucks total. He has an area where he uses a hedge trimmer and needs 150 foot extension cord to get to it. He took the setup out to the location and used his hedge trimmer with it and needless to say, it worked great. I personally think running the extension cord would have been easier but I mention all the other uses as another example of the setups' capabilities where it can be applied to other emergency or short term uses as well.

I have been shopping for the best sump protection for my newly finished basement. It is 2,800 square feet and was completed to an 'above average' finish with a bar, theater, my sports memorabilia collection, etc. I live in one of the older neighborhoods in Hinsdale, IL and we are very prone to power outages. My sump pump runs every 30 minutes when dry, every 4 minutes when raining hard. But the point is...I CAN NOT FLOOD. I'm comparing several products: StormPro Platinum, PeakFlow Pumps ePump (model 5600). The StormPro product seems to simply be electric pumps powered by an inverter if the utility power fails. I'm enough of a hobbyist to know that inverted DC can't supply an AC draw very efficiently, therefore my running time would be severely limited. I also don't see ANY self testing or notification capabilities on that unit. (Incidentally, I also looked at a brand my plumber had called ProSeries, but quickly realized it was just a WatchDog (same manufacturer) like at Home Depot). I guess I'm leaning toward the PeakFlow ePump because of the twice a day testing, diagnostics and notification, performance capabilities, and comparable pricing. But before I decide for sure to purchase that one, I have a few questions that I consider crucial regarding backup pumps in this purchase: How often does the product self-test? If it does not self test, how does it tell me it has broken several years from now (since all mechanical things eventually break)? Is it able to pump over 60gpm at 10' high, run continuously for 14 hours, detect frozen or air locked pipes, diagnose bad pumps, batteries, power supplies, etc. Can it call and email me 24/7/365 with important alerts within minutes of a suspected alert condition? What redundancy is built in? Is there any kind of online interface or controls for the system? What is the warranty? Please inform if you know of any product that has all the capabilities of the Peakflow Pumps brand unit described above. Thanks! Sincerely, Ben Runkle, Principal Runkle, Caldwell, and Jordan, Ltd. CPAs for the Players Sports Industry benrunkle7@gmail.com Here is a link that might be useful: Where they sell the SmartHome systems