Sump in Basement?

[CHI]

I've got one here that I've never seen before. The home was built in 1959. This large 15-20' deep well was in the basement floor. It was approx. 3/4 full of water, but the basement was dry at the time. By the looks of the pipe coming out of the (very heavy) top, it appears a pump was once installed. I'm assuming ground water enters the well and is supposed to be pumped out???

The buyer is a bit concerned about standing water and mold growth.

Any other thoughts on this and what should be done? I'm thinking a new pump, just not sure where he would pump it to.

Thanks!

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[Erby]

Do you really mean 15 - 20 FEET deep? Certainly not a typical sump setup.

[Chad Fabry]

How far from the floor is the water level? Why didn't you show us a pic of how deep it is?

If it's sump, fill it with gravel so it's only two feet deep and then install a pump.

I bet it's more like a cistern/ well and they used it as a water source for watering the lawn or what ever.

I don't think I've ever seen ground water with mold issues. The well in the pic is in a crawl- it's been out of service for close to a hundred years.

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[fyrmnk]

Sounds like a cistern to me as well.

[Tom Raymond]

How far from the floor is the water level? Why didn't you show us a pic of how deep it is?

If it's sump, fill it with gravel so it's only two feet deep and then install a pump.

I bet it's more like a cistern/ well and they used it as a water source for watering the lawn or what ever.

I don't think I've ever seen ground water with mold issues. The well in the pic is in a crawl- it's been out of service for close to a hundred years.

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Lemme guess, they switched to muni water[:-banghea

I have a well similar to that in my yard. I'm very tempted to hook it back up, considering I spend as much on filters as I do on the mud delivered by the water dept.

[Scottpat]

This is a sump for a grinder pump (that the builder did not install) that I found yesterday on a new home (that had just received it's CO). Seems everyone forgot about this little hole in the ground for the unfinished basement. It was about 2" from overflowing. I'm guessing that ground water was seeping in from who knows where.

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[CHI]

Thanks for the thoughts. You've pretty much confirmed my suspicions . I took several pictures but the water is approximately 5' from the top and all I could get was a reflection of the water.

The concern is that the sellers mentioned there has been water in the basement in the past. They claimed they had fixed the issue, however there was still moisture wicking around the base of the foundation wall and the basement had been recently painted hmmm..

Thanks for the insight!

[ericwlewis]

This is a sump for a grinder pump (that the builder did not install) that I found yesterday on a new home (that had just received it's CO). Seems everyone forgot about this little hole in the ground for the unfinished basement. It was about 2" from overflowing. I'm guessing that ground water was seeping in from who knows where.

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every home that I've finished the basement of that has the builder installed pit is like this. They sometimes are loaded with "crap" that I have to dig out so it doesn't ruin the pump. More often of late they only have a couple of concrete blocks in them which is nicer than a couple of 5 gallon buckets filled with mud and pea gravel.

They always are about to overflow though.