Groundwater

Sump pump installation in London

London clay holds water, and a basement below the water table will take some in whatever the walls are made of. A sump and pump gives that water a controlled place to arrive and a controlled way out. We install them, replace failed ones and service the ones already sitting under a cover you have never lifted.

  • Gas Safe registered and fully insured
  • DBS-checked engineers
  • Emergency callout available 24/7
  • Price agreed before work starts

Mon–Fri 8:00–17:30 · Emergency callout available 24/7

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What we cover

What this includes

  • Sump chamber and pump installation
  • Replacing failed or undersized pumps
  • Dual-pump systems and battery backup
  • Discharge pipework and non-return valves
  • Float switch faults and high-water alarms
  • Annual testing and servicing
Before you call

Worth knowing first

Some of this may save you a callout entirely. We would rather tell you than not.

A sump pump is not a damp-proofing system

It manages water that gets in. It does not stop it getting in. If the basement is being converted into living space, the pump is one part of a tanking and drainage design, not a substitute for one.

One pump is one point of failure

A single pump in an unattended basement means the first thing you learn about a failure is the water. Either a second pump on a higher float, or at the very least a high-water alarm, is worth far more than the difference in cost.

Where the water goes matters legally

Groundwater should not be discharged into the foul sewer. It needs to go to a surface water drain or a soakaway, and getting that wrong can land you with a bill from the water company rather than a fine from anyone else.

Test it before the wet season, not during it

Pour a bucket into the sump in September and watch it run. A pump that has sat dry all summer with a stuck float is a very common autumn callout.

Questions

Common questions

Do I really need a backup pump?

If the basement is habitable, storage you care about, or somewhere you cannot check daily, yes. If it is an empty cellar with a concrete floor, an alarm may be enough.

How often should it be serviced?

Once a year, and tested by hand a couple of times besides. Servicing is mostly cleaning the chamber, checking the float travel and confirming the non-return valve still holds.

Can it discharge into the drain outside?

Into a surface water drain, usually yes. Into the foul drain, generally not. Which one you have outside is the first thing we check.

My basement floods in heavy rain. Is a pump enough?

Sometimes, and sometimes the answer is that water is arriving somewhere it should not and the pump is treating a symptom. We will tell you which, even where that means a bigger job than a pump.

Related work

Part of our bathrooms & pumps work

If the job turns out to be a repair rather than an installation, these are the pages that cover it.

Need sump pumps in London?

Tell us what’s happening and where you are, and we’ll tell you what it costs before anyone starts work.