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Sump Pit Disaster

geeman | Posted in General Discussion on January 29, 2011 07:34am

I had a post a year ago or so titled Mystery Smell ( still not resolved) Here is another wierd problem that I hope someone can advise me.

This home I built 7 years ago  for my clients has got me stumped as to what do I do now. Here is the backround info.

When we excavated for ftgs & walls we noticed all the way down to ftg. depth the soil was a high qulity top soil ( this area is normally native to a fairly fine sand. It did change right at the final depth and I believe this was the original virgin soil. I contacted the developer who also had owned the land for years and he told me they dropped many truck loads of soil that he got for free so he took advantage of it. This had happened 25 to 30 years ago. It was the low spot of the land.

As we carried on with building I noticed water entering the sump pit was none stop and quite a volume, maybe a gallon a minute. Then about a few weeks before they were going to move in I started noticing a smell like someone  just had a bowel movement type smell! When they finally moved in, a month or so later I went to visit them and I still noticed that smell and I asked them if they could smell it to but I think because they were there so much they got used to it. We have the F. A. G. furnace in the same room as the sump pit and they do run there furnace fan continuosly.

This is where I thought let me cover the top of the pit with plastic and seal it to the concrete floor and red tape around the exiting pipe to get an air tight seal. I went back a few days later and no smell. I let the plastic stay for about a year and when I removed it the smell did not come back.

Here is whats really bothering me, that is there is a red (more like rust color) of something coming in to the sump. Its even starting to clog up the outgoing pipe and the weeper coming in is half clogged. The sump pump, (our third already) is just caked with this slimmy stuff. I think the top soil that was brought in several years before must of been contaminated, but with what?

Also, I think the weeping tile (4 inch corragated plastic with a soch and the 14-18 inches of clear gravel are stating to clog up? Does anyone have any suggestions. I would really appreciate it.

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Replies

  1. sapwood | Jan 29, 2011 09:37pm | #1

    Why not collect a sample of the nasty gunk and have it analyzed at a lab? And/or, have an engineer who specializes in waste runoff come out and look at the situation.

    1. User avater
      geeman | Jan 30, 2011 11:43am | #4

      Thanks for your reply......this particular area, the soil is sand. This sand belt is about 8 miles wide and 15 miles long. All surrounding areas are clay. In the 15 or so north/south sand area, at about the middle there is a high point where Hwy. 20 runs east/west. This home is about 3 miles south of the highway. I have been told that the water underground runs due south anywhere south of the high point. The sump pit is on the south wall of the house.

      I am going to ask some of the neighbors if they are having the same problem. If not, I am going to assume the fill that was dropped on site is contaminated.

      Any thoughts.

      P.S. If I have mis-spelled some words I have not figured out how to spell check on this site.

  2. DanH | Jan 29, 2011 11:14pm | #2

    Yeah, I'd attempt to get the gunk analyzed.

    Around here I'd assume it was just iron oxide, but we live in a known high-iron area.

    1. User avater
      geeman | Jan 30, 2011 11:18am | #3

      I will get it analyzed and let you guys know whats up.

      Do you think that the ext. perimeter weepers are cloging up?

      If it is iron oxide, would it have a kind of sewery smell.

      Also what do you think of a liability issue, as I have never encounterd anything like this?

      1. User avater
        Mongo | Feb 04, 2011 03:26am | #5

        iron bacteria is my guess

        Do a google search for "iron bacteria" and read up a bit on that. Iron bacteria can give off a slimy red-orange film that can build up over time, and it can have an odor.

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