A sump pump spends most of the year doing nothing. Then the rain arrives, groundwater rises, and it has to run reliably for months.
The failure mode is obvious in hindsight: it sat idle, something seized or stuck, and nobody knew until the basement was wet. Which is why the time to check it is now, not in November.
Why they matter here specifically
Metro Vancouver's rain is not dramatic — it is relentless, concentrated into the months when the ground is already saturated and cannot absorb more. Groundwater rises, perimeter drainage carries what it can, and the sump is where the water that reaches the house gets collected and pumped away.
When it stops, water does not stop arriving. It just stops leaving.
The test
Pour water into the sump pit until the float rises. That is it.
You are looking for: the pump starting promptly, water leaving quickly, the pump shutting off cleanly when the level drops, and no unusual noise. Then check where the water goes — outside, at the discharge point, water should be coming out.
Things that mean it needs attention: the pump does not start; it starts but moves water slowly; it runs on after the pit empties (a float or switch problem, and running dry damages a pump); it makes grinding or rattling noises; or nothing appears at the discharge.
Do this in late summer or early autumn, before the wet season, and again mid-winter if you want to be thorough.
The parts that fail
The float switch, most often. It is a mechanical part in a wet pit. It sticks, it gets tangled on the pump cord or the pit wall, it fails electrically. A pump with a stuck float either does not start or does not stop.
The check valve, which stops water in the discharge pipe running back into the pit. When it fails, the pump cycles repeatedly moving the same water, which wears it out.
The discharge line, which can freeze at the outlet in a cold snap, or become blocked. A pump discharging into a blocked line is working against a closed door.
The pump itself, which has a service life like any motor.
Debris in the pit
Sump pits collect silt, gravel and whatever washes in. That material gets drawn into the pump and wears the impeller, and it can jam the float.
Cleaning the pit periodically is unglamorous and extends the pump's life more than anything else you can do.
Backup, and whether you need one
The vulnerability of a sump pump is that it is electric, and the weather that makes you need it is the weather that takes the power out. A storm that floods your neighbourhood is exactly the storm that cuts the power to your pump.
Two approaches. A battery backup pump runs independently when mains power fails; it needs its battery maintained and tested, and its runtime is finite. A water-powered backup uses municipal water pressure to drive an ejector and has no battery at all — the trade is that it consumes water while running, and it needs adequate supply pressure.
Whether you need one is a question about consequence. If the basement is unfinished storage, a wet floor is a bad day. If it is a finished suite, a home office or where your furnace sits, the arithmetic is different.
An alarm is cheap
A water alarm in the sump pit tells you the level is rising when it should not be. It is inexpensive, it takes minutes to install, and it converts a discovery into a warning.
Getting it looked at
If your pump is old, has never been serviced, or failed the test above, it is better to deal with it in September than to find out in December.
Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, New Westminster. 604-865-7979.
Related: Sump pumps · Perimeter drainage installation and replacement · Perimeter drain cleaning and flushing
