A sump pump is what stands between your home and the forces of nature. The sump pump found in your basement, crawl space or at the lowest area of your home collects groundwater and brings it away from your home. Without your suction pump, that groundwater could easily build up and flood through your foundation. Flooding is damaging, costly, and dangerous, so your sump pump is an essential element of home safety.

To keep your sump pump working correctly, you’ll need to clean it semi-regularly. Luckily, this is an easy and quick DIY plumbing chore. This article will show you a sump pump cleaning step-by-step routine. Pull out this walkthrough whenever you’re cleaning your sump pump, and you’ll get it done right every time:

Gather the supplies you’ll need.

Grab a piece of plastic sheeting, a scraping tool, a large bucket, a garden hose, and a shop vac.

Make sure your water is off.

Technically you don’t need to turn off all the water in your home. Turn off water at any area where a fixture drains directly into the sump pump, just like the washer. If you can’t turn off the water, make sure no one’s using fixtures while you’re working on the pump. Make sure you never try to clean your sump pump on a rainy day. Choose a time when you’re sure water won’t drain out of the pump while you’re trying to clean it.

Disconnect power.

This is normally as simple as unplugging it from a basement outlet. You could also cut the circuit supplying power to the pump at the breaker directly. Having a sump pump is a regular part of many homeowner’s plumbing. If you have one and want it checked out or don’t have one and are interested in installation, give the plumber in Venice, FL a call. They have the best plumber and great plumbing service.

Wrap your pump in a plastic sheet.

Try to remove the pump from Hell without letting it make a multitude everywhere the ground. Sludge and dirt could also be caked onto the pump, so you ought to carry it outside to wash it thoroughly.

Clean the pump.

Use your garden hose to rinse off the pump. Once the first layer of grime is removed, you can start scraping with your tool. It doesn’t matter what that tool actually is as long as it can scrape off anything caked on. Wash it with the hose again for final cleaning.

Drain the check valve in the sump pit.

Place your bucket beneath the prevailing check valve where water would drain into the pump. Unlock it and let any existing water drain into your bucket for disposal.

Use the shop vac to remove leftover standing water.

Vacuum up any water you still see inside the bottom of the sump pit. That way when you reconnect the pump itself it’s not going straight back into a messy pit.

Reconnect your pump.

Connect the pump back to the discharge pipe and check the valve. Plug it back in. It’ll be shiny, clean, and good to go.