Totally agree about everything posted. 1st) Flood insurance usually states they will not cover you in a situation it is deemed an act of God. So, pretty much that only means a pipe bursting. If there is an actual flood that damages your house or a hurricane, well, that's an act of God and you're not covered. I didn't know that until I heard many of those in Louisiana who paid for flood insurance went to cash in, and found out it doesn't cover an actual flood or hurricane, those are acts of God. Kind of takes the wind out of flood insurance. Do like DavidAndKasie say, and make sure it specifically stipulates you're covered even if it's an act of God if you get it. 2nd) Read Devorah's post, carefully. Before I bought my house, my mortgage person first thing said, "Give me the address, let's check to see if the previous owners took a claim on water damage. If they did, you won't be able to get a mortgage for that house". Once you cash in on water damage, now the insurance company usually will drop you, you will have a very hard time trying to pick up someone else as you're now marked, and you will have a hard time trying to sell your house as you'll have to find someone who's mortgage company will actually let someone buy a house that's claimed water damage. Insurance companies are afraid you've created a mold/mildew issue and they don't want to risk the medical repurcussions of the individual(s) or anyone moving into that house who gets sick. In my opinion, flood insurance is a hoax. If you win the fight, you've lost the war as now you're marked as a potential health risk from then on, your house is flagged as a safety risk, anyone buying your house from then on will have a hard time trying to purchase it, and you will have a hard time trying to find a mortgage company to back you. Better off just paying for the damage out of pocket and keep your insurance out of it. A guy at work is convinced you can't even call up your insurance company and ask them about water damage. He said he had a pipe burst in his house and called up his insurance company. They got his name, and account, and then all he wanted was an honest answer from them if it was just better he take the hit or have a claim. After discussing it with other people at work, everyone was like, DO NOT get the insurance company involved or have a claim. Well, a month later his insurance company cancelled his insurance without reason and sent him a check for the remaining balance. Think it was coincidence? So, that's how I understand it. You have to take what I say with a grain of salt as it's all what others have told me but no actual proof or backing.

Quote;" It is rare, that a house cant maintain 35 PSI with 8-10 GPM IMO." To your credit you did qualify that statement by stating it is your "Opinion", however you present no factual evidence to support that claim, and based upon the evidence presented in numerous posts it is evident that you are not a plumber, nor have you had any formal training in the plumbing field. Now here are a few facts to support my "professional opinion" as a Master Plumber, In order to maintain consistent water pressure municipal water suppliers first use electric pumps to pump the water up into water towers or in mountainous regions they use ground-mounted tanks installed at higher elevations. They then use gravity as the propelling force in the municipal water mains. A standing column of water produces 0.434psi per vertical foot thus the municipal water supplier erects water towers that are at least 94 from the bottom of the tank to the horizontal water line supplying the community, this will produce a minimum of 94x 0.434psi/ft = 40.79psi static head pressure from the base of the tank to the ground. The tanks on the top of tower are then 50 to 75 high, which produces another 21.7psi to 32.5psi so depending upon how full the tank may be at any given moment. The static head pressure may range from 40psi to 72.5psi approximately. Understanding that even comparatively flat terrain is not really flat, it then stands that the actual pressures at any given point in the municipal infrastructure might vary dependant upon whether the municipal main rises or drops from the mean average depth. With than in mind, the International Residential code requires that we install a boost pump if the static head pressure to a structure is less than 40psi. Under the Uniform Plumbing code a boost pump is not required unless the average static head pressure is below 15psi. Under both codes if the maximum static head pressure exceeds 85psi we are required to install a PRV (pressure reducing valve). Keep in mind that this code minimum is for static head pressure at the structure service main, which is the pressure when the water is at rest. The moment any valve or faucet is opened the water pressure to that fixture drops to "Dynamic Head Pressure", which is the initial static head pressure, less vertical static head loss and pipe friction loss and fitting loss. (pipe friction loss must be computed from the point of discharge back to the municipal main). In addition, pipe friction loss increases dramatically as the velocity of flow increases. Now when you consider that probably 60% of all residential structures in America today still have the code minimum ¾" supply line from the municipal main to the structure, and considering the losses it is almost a guarantee that they cannot maintain a 35psi dynamic head pressure into a ¾" fixture at any point in the structure. Especially when we consider that an overwhelming number of those residential service lines are 40 to 50 year old severely corroded galvanized pipe, not to mention that those structures that are under the UPC are only required a 15psi static head pressure to start with. So once again, in my professional opinion as a master plumber I doubt that 1 house in 100 could produce the necessary 35psi dynamic pressure required to operate the pump at peak operation Now let us consider the volume of water they water powered pumps consume. The overall mean average for residential water consumption is 300gal/day and the municipal water tanks must be able to provide sufficient water for a 24hour period, thus they determine how many residential structures may be supplied from the tank by dividing the total volume of the tank by 300gal. On the other hand, you yourself pointed out that the water-powered pumps can consume as much as 10gpm. Allowing 60minutes per hour, it is then consuming 10gpm x 60min/hr =600gal/hr. This means that a single water powered pump will consume a volume of water every hour equal to the daily requirements of 2 residential structures. If that pump were to run for 24 hours it would consume a volume of water equal to the amount needed to supply 48 houses in the same 24 hour period. Keep in mind that it is using water stored in the water tower, and while the power is out the municipality is unable to refill the tower. Needless to say, it would not take too many water-powered pumps to cause a serious problem with the water supply during a period of electrical power outage. It is true that most municipal water suppliers do have an emergency contingency, whether they have a backup generator, a diesel powered pump or as is done in some small rural communities, they use a fire truck to refill the tanks, however these systems are extremely small in comparison to the volume of water that can be pumped by the electric pumps that work off commercial power. In most communities these emergency systems are hard pressed to even maintain a minimal water supply when all the residents are conserving water during the emergency. It is for these reasons that many communities have outlawed water powered pumps. In my community they not only outlawed them, anyone who is caught using one will be fined $5,000.

"Did I misread this, or did everyone else? OP said the laundry water drains into the pit, ie the sump? Shouldn't it be going into the city sewer?" A common installation if the main sewer line is higher than the basement. It is also routinely used for houses on septic, since the lines are never deep enough to have drains in a basement unless the house is on a hill with the septic tank and field below the house. When septic houses are converted to municipal sewer the lines are rarely lowered, so the pit and ejector system remain. The ejector pump in the pit is usually a pretty powerful one, and the slightest obstruction in the line after the pit line joins the house sewer line can cause backup.

I don't know what Azzalea's problem is with utility companies and to be perfectly honest, I don't care, and while her DH may have worked for a utility company and claims to have some inside information, I doubt seriously if he worked for the utility company in question, that being Dominion East Ohio Gas Company (DEOGC). On the other hand, On three separate occassions DEOGC performed their services at my mothers house while I was there, so I feel that as a retired plumber myself, I too am qualified to assess the performance, and you may rest assured I too asked all the pertinent questions, like why would the gas company repair water & sewer lines? The reason has nothing to do with the gas company scrambling for money as was eluded by Azzalea. It has to do with Code requirements and union contracts. The gas company primarily installs and maintains the municipal gas lines, however Commercial and Municipal gas lines are not regulated under the plumbing codes, they fall under a separate set of Municipal codes and the rank & file employees that work for the gas company are under the "Pipefitters Union" and they are only permitted to work on the municipal gas lines and the individual service drops from the municipal line to the curb stop shutoff valve. The gas service line from the curb stop to the structure is regulated under the Plumbing code and you must be a certified Plumber to work on that line. The problem is that in the state of Ohio one only has to complete the apprenticeship and pass the state plumbers exam to become a commercial plumbers. Residential plumbers are regulated by the individual jurisdication, and in most jurisdictions the only requirement to become a licensed residential plumber is to pay an annual fee. As if that is not problamatic enough, in many small communities and in rural areas outside the local municipal district they have absolutely no licensing requirements to be a residential plumber. The gas company was then confronted with a problem. When they were called upon to install a new gas service they could only make the tap into the municipal gas line and extend the residential service line to the curb stop. From there they had to hire a plumber to run the line to the structure, but they had no way to insure the plumbers were even qualified to properly run a gas line so they opted to hire their own plumbers, but that instantly caused a union dissagreement between the Pipefitters Union & the Plumbers Union. The final solution was that the gas company hired qualified residential & cmmercial plumbers on a permanent subcontract from a local plumbing company. The plumbers remained as bona fide employees of the respective plumbing companies, but they reported for duty directly to the gas company and worked with gas company vehicles, equipment and materials and under the direct supervision of gas company supervisors. That was working out to the complete satisfaction of both unions and all parties concerned, but it was soon discovered that the gas company did not have enough work installing service drops to justify the expense of having separate crews. They then relized the the plumbers were legally qualified to not only install and maintain the gas lines, they were also qualified to install and maintain water & sewer lines so the gas company started the "line Backer" service to insure their plumbing crews would be afforded a steady 40hr work week, thus insuring they could keep the same ppl doing the job. Now let us compare the gas company service to having the service performed through your homeowners insurance. From my first hand experience, when you call the gas company they will have an estimator on site within the hour. The estimator examines the job and determines the level of service required, then radios that information back to their dispatchers. The dispatchers then apply for all necessary permits, notifiy "Dig Safe" to come out and mark all utility lines before they commence digging, and the appropriate repair crew is dispatched to the location. On two occassions when they came to my mothers house they already had a hard copy of the plumbing permit on the truck when they arrived, on the third occassion the repair crew arrived and began unloading their tools and equipment and within a few minutes a pickup truck arrived with their permit. The crews work out of a large gas company 5 ton crewcab truck with a 20' hard covered utility bed loaded with all the tools, parts and materials to perform the task at hand, and they were pulling a large commercial heavy duty equipment trailer with either a trencher or a backhoe, whichever was required to do the job. In all three instances the job was completed within 8hrs from the time we first called the gas company, and when they did the water line it was on a Sunday. Having spent over 25 years in the plumbing trade I had many opportunities to do similar work through insurance companies. Generally when you call an insurance company they will send an adjuster out within a day or two to examine the problem. The then take their findings back to the office and discuss whether or not it is covered by the policy. If it is a catastrophic failure its covered, but if the problem resulted from old age, it is a maintenance problem and not covered. Of course it will take them a day or so to make that determination. The insurance company will then call you and tell you what their determination was and if they authorize the service they will issue you a P.O. number or control number and tell you to go ahead and contact a plumber. You are then left scrambling through the phone book looking for a plumber that can come out within a short time and make the repairs, course that short time may be another 4 or 5 days. No time now to go through the process of checking references, you need the service immediately. To add insult to injury, how many homeowners have any firsthand knowledge of what the code requirements are? Do you feel yourself qualified to judge the quality of the work performed? If the truth be told, most homeowners would not even know enough to insist on pulling a permit and having the job inspected..Oh yes, and did we mention that even if the job is covered by your insurance, you first have to reach down in your pocket and cover the deductable. So as I said before,,if you happen to live in an area servied by Dominion East Ohio Gas company, in my opinion you would be a fool not to take advantage of it.