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We have a small farm, luckily adjacent to an Agricultural Drainage Ditch. Unfortunately the field between our 170 year old farm house, and said ditch either has no tile field, or the tile field has failed. We need to have the acreage inspected by an Agricultural Drainage Co for recommendations.

Basement has tile entering into the Sump Pit from three directions, two of which continually produce running stream of water. Our sump pump is cycling on/off every 5-15 minutes depending on weekly rain. The pump doesn't have an installed backup, but I do have a flood alarm and a standby that I can install in case of pump failure. Electricity has NG operated backup.

In areas with "Seasonally High Water Tables" is this simply the way it is, or can something be done about it?

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    Maybe it's because my coffee hasn't kicked in yet, but this is really broad and vague. What, exactly, are you asking about? What does the current house with a basement and an "Agricultural Drainage Co" inspection have to do with a new house without a basement. Please edit to be much more specific.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Mar 25, 2022 at 11:11
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    If it's really a high water table, as opposed to surface runoff, I don't think there's much you can do. You can try to reduce the pressure that's causing the water to flow into your sump, maybe by trenching close to your house and running the trench down to the drainage ditch, to try and intercept the water. You probably need to consult a hydrologist.
    – SteveSh
    Commented Mar 25, 2022 at 14:38
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    Wow, if it runs every 15 minutes that means that if power quits, your basement will flood within 30 minutes. I would prepare for that by getting things up on shelves and off the floor. Is the worst-case high water in the ditch below your basement floor? If so, what would it take to build some French drains around the house (not right up against the house, maybe 20-30' setback)?
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Mar 25, 2022 at 20:16
  • @FreeMan building a new house was spoken in jest, or rather extreme, toss the baby with the bath water comment. Sorry you're having coffee issues.
    – bsd
    Commented Mar 26, 2022 at 10:19
  • Please revise your post title to ask a clear, specific question. If you find it difficult to do that it might be because your post is too vague in general.
    – isherwood
    Commented Mar 26, 2022 at 16:17

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Regarding the cycling times, I'd say there is no problem with the actual pump activity; it should be well within the pump's capability to cycle that often, as long as the pump is in good working order.

I live in a flood zone, and after rains we get sump pump cycling. Every 15 minutes-ish is a normal, no-sweat day. Every 5, wow, it must have rained a lot last night.

Inspect the pump, check that nothing might foul the float switch. Consider installing a back-up sump pump, battery-powered (two batteries, test/swap/exercise them regularly) or municipal-water-supply-powered (not well-supply-powered).

Back-up pumps serve if the power is lost or as a secondary pump in heavy activity. We had extra-heavy rain and a flash flood in Hurricane Ida, with water coming in through the basement door. The main pump stayed running for an hour solid and could not keep up. The battery backup pump kicked in regularly during the flood. Our neighbors were hit hard; we only had a damp basement floor.

The above is to keep your basement from flooding if conditions outside get too much. Why the conditions get too much would be a subject for a local engineer to inspect.

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