Manly ditch diggin'

So part of the reason that that perfectly good pump #2 went tits-up was it was having to work too hard.  That line didn't have a check valve and both of the pumps went to the same tee and then into a pipe that was the same size as the outlet of the pumps.  So when it was really raining hard, pump #2 was putting part of its water into sump #1 if pump #1 wasn't running.  And when both pumps were running at the same time, they were each trying to stuff a 1-1/4 inch pipe full of water into a single 1-1/4 inch pipe.  That's too much, and the effect was that pump #1 (where the flood was) could not get rid of its water fast enough.

But not any more, not any more.

Today I got a few fittings and used up about 50 feet of pipe running a second drain line for pump #2 starting where the two pipes used to join up. And this is 1-1/2 inch, so that pump #2 won't have to work so hard since it's pumping through about 90 feet of pipe.  This also involved 50 feet of sweet, sweet trench.  I'm gonna hurt tomorrow.  Check out these super-sexy trench shots.

Here's pump #2, safe and sound, submerged.

This is where the pipes used to join and co-mingle their dirty juices.  Now they are torn asunder, flowing side-by-side to their ultimate destination; the gutter.  The do get to join hands for the last twenty feet or so, but that's in a big thick FOUR INCH PIPE.

 

As the Beatles said, that's the end - o little girl.  Note the artistic flair of the 45 degree entry into the FOUR INCH PIPE.  Almost brings a tear to the eye, don't it.