What Happens To Your Sump Pump If The Discharge Line Freezes?

We are officially in the heart of winter, which means rain, snow, and ice! Snow turns into slush, it's hard to walk in, and it can cause issues driving to work. However, there's another dangerous aspect of winter conditions that many people don’t think about, and that is the fact that it can cause your sump pump discharge lines to freeze. The sump pump and discharge lines are designed to keep water out of your basement and away from your home so you don't have to worry about leaks and floods, but what happens when the discharge line freezes?

Like downspouts, if the snow isn’t cleared from around the discharge lines, the pipe itself can freeze, leaving no way for the water that enters your sump pump in the basement to escape. Once your discharge line is backed up, water can't escape and is forced to go back where it came from (inside your home or basement). The result? The same reason you are contacting us, to begin with, is the nightmare of a flooded basement. Aside from that, it could also put stress on your sump pump by forcing it to run constantly, eventually leading to it burning out. 

What you need is a way of guarding your basement and sump pump even if the discharge line is clogged or frozen. This is where IceGuard comes in handy because, in the event that you have a frozen discharge line, the IceGuard kicks in and serves as a secondary escape route, automatically allowing water to escape through its perforations. Even if the pipe outlet is buried under a foot of ice and snow, the water can escape, allowing your sump pump to keep your basement dry. When the discharge pipe thaws, the water will automatically run along its normal route, and no water will escape from the sump pump ice guard. There are no valves to turn, hoses to attach, or anything for you, the homeowner, to do at all - it's totally automatic! IceGuard is also a one-way valve, meaning that once the water is out, it can’t get back in. 

You have already invested in having a dry basement. Why not make sure that you have a dry basement all the time? Call Healthy Spaces today for a free cost estimate and have peace of mind knowing you have a dry basement year-round, regardless of the conditions outside.