Many houses in Atlanta have sewer ejector pumps installed in the basement to pump the sewage up and out to the sewer. You may find out too late that it has failed when your carpet gets ruined from the back ups they can cause. Not to mention the odor.
Your best plan of action is of course preventing that type of situation. By looking at the tag on your sewer ejection pump that is attached to the cord you can determine the age of the pump. Or the data plate will have the information you may need.

All sewer ejector pumps have a date tag that should have been marked with the date that it was installed if the plumber did his job properly. In Atlanta you will find that a lot of basement pump are cheap and undersized. Some remodeling contractors install these pumps when they do basement finish outs and do not even know how to properly size a pump. Pumps are designed for specific applications.

Being cheap may have its advantages in the beginning. In  the long run though it will bite you in the butt when it comes to your plumbing system. If your going to finish the basement hire a good plumber and you will at the very least have some recourse if something goes wrong. Plumbers are regulated handymen are not and  some general contractors use a handyman or a buddy that works for nothing and you still get charged that full amount only to end up with junk in your basement.

Proper sizing of a pump requires the measurement from the bottom of the pump pit, and the amount of bends that are in that measurement have an effect on the amount of solids the pump will be able to keep up with without failing prematurely. The best way to do this is by using pump charts provided from the manufacturer. The two brands that we like are Zoeller and Liberty very reliable pumps that last.

The installation of the pumps will vary depending on the type you may have. Typically a pump from Home Depot or Lowes will have an integrated float switch with a plastic impeller. These are pretty much worthless pumps and  if they have been installed improperly will fail  rather quickly and usually fail even when installed correctly. Premature failure may result due to the lack of a check valve in the system or too many bends in the vertical or horizontal pipe runs as well.

Cast iron pumps are heavier and the impellers should be made of  metal not composite plastics. Basement plumbing in a house with small kids takes a good pounding and many things make it into that pump pit that could easily break a plastic impeller and will, and do all of the time. Make it clear what goes down that drain and you may save money. Feminine hygiene products create a lot of work for plumbers. If you can’t get them to stop putting stuff in the drains then it may be smart to invest in a grinder pump.

A good sewer ejector pump installed improperly will fail prematurely as well. It’s good practice to drill a small hole above the threaded adapter about 1/8″ to ease the amount of solids pushing back down on an impeller from the bottom of the check valve. Failure to drill that hole will decrease the life of the pump too.The manufacturers suggest this and it’s good practice to follow.

A one way check valve must be installed below a pressure ball valve as well to allow for maintenance in the pump pit. Pressure fittings should be used not DWV (drain waste and vent)because your pushing raw sewage at a high rate in short bursts. The lid on the pit must be sealed to ensure sewer gases are not released and the vent must be continuous and connected to a stack vent (not back pitched) which may cause  improper drainage. Studor vents are bad practice and not recommended.

A good plumber knows these things and will ensure that it has been installed properly the first time. So the two most likely reasons of early sewer ejector pump failure are undersized pumps and improper installation. And remember never to buy a pump made in China ever. Buy American made pumps if you can.