Rural living has come a long way since the Ingalls family settled in Walnut Creek. Well water pumps and pressure systems now can rival the flow rates of city water supplies, with efficient and user-friendly treatment systems often delivering rural owners better water than our urban friends enjoy. High speed Internet, widened rural roads, corner stores a plenty - things are just getting easier and easier.
One thing that hasn't changed is the responsibility of home owners to look after their "stuff" - if there are sewer backups, storm water backups, power outages that cut off water supplies, rural home owners need to be prepared. Two areas of critical importance are the pumps that get water out of and away from your home. This normally includes a sump pump under your home and a septic pump that feeds your septic drainage system. If either of these pumps fail, home owners could be in serious trouble - and fast!
Perhaps the best form of insurance is a spare "emergency" sump pump. If either of these two pumps fail, having a ready-to-go pump on hand can allow you to quickly and effectively empty out a sump pit, or "filled to the brim" septic tank. In the case of a winter septic emergency (ie. your septic pump failing) you are legally allowed to pump out your tank to a nearby bush area, provided you meet a few guidelines about the chosen location (that's outside the scope of this article and will vary from county to county, so look up bylaw information in your area first!)
Likewise, if your sump pump fails and you start to see water from under the home finding its way into the home, quickly dropping in your spare pump will allow you to get that water down to a manageable level. In both circumstances, what this does is buy you time. You now don't "NEED" an emergency call from a plumber or septic repair company. Let's face it, these problems usually happen late Friday night, when its -30, and after normal service hours end, usually two days away from most service companies' regular rate service hours.
Usually for around $100 at your local plumbing supply or hardware store, you can get yourself a spare pump and enough hose to run the line to the nearest relief zone - again, that "bush" area mentioned earlier. It's much easier to scope out the property and come up with a plan ahead of time, when it's nice out - and not pitch black, rather than running into town at an odd hour, then wondering what kind and how long the tubing needs to be to get to that area of relief.
Prevention is the best medicine - have your systems serviced and checked annually, and as a backup, always have a spare pump on-hand. With rural living comes certain responsibilities. This isn't really even a matter of IF this will happen to you, it's more a matter of WHEN - so when the time comes, be prepared and have the equipment you need to resolve the emergency ready, know where it is, how it operates and where you are going to pump that water!
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