During some recent heavy rains one of my window wells filled with water, which started coming into the basement through the deteriorating window. I have a drain tile system around the interior of the basement walls but no drain around the exterior. (The house was built in the 40s, and the interior drain tile is a recent enhancement.)
In the two summers since it was installed, the sump pump has run very little. I've never actually noticed it running apart from when I test it, but the seepage I used to get on a regular basis from the bottom of the basement walls has stopped.
I'm considering installing drains in the window wells to connect to the interior drain tile. I have misgivings about intentionally channeling all that water through the inside of my house to the sump pump, though. While adding the window well drains seems like the obvious solution to keep the window wells dry, how much worse would it make a sump pump failure? Would it make a failure more likely because of the increased activity?
Best Answer
You're right on target with the questions you've asked. You want to prevent water from collecting around the house. Ideally, it's best to avoid water being there in the first place. If you can't do that, that next best solution is to give it a place to go to get rid of it as quickly as possible. That can be accomplished on the exterior or the interior. If you put in a system to get rid of water, the benefit will come from letting it get rid of as much problem water as you can get into it.
To drain the window wells, don't just drill holes and let the water run down the wall into the floor drain. Stick a pipe through the wall with the wall opening sealed around the pipe, and direct the water into the drain while keeping it contained. Use some form of screen or filter on the inlet so the pipe doesn't get clogged with debris.
As you noted, once the basement is no longer sealed, water can migrate in as well as drain out. The interior drain, itself, is a potential path, and any other exterior water you provide with a path adds to it. It is critical to have a reliable and redundant system to get rid of the water or your basement can become the collection system.
Sump pumps don't last forever, so have a second, backup pump. Power can go out in a storm, which is the likely time when water will be feeding the system. So use some form of battery backup or make one of the pumps battery- or dual-powered and include a provision for keeping the battery charged and tested. Or have the pumps on a backup generator.