Sump Pumping | Groundwater Engineering

Sump Pumping

Sump pumping is the simplest dewatering technique, whereby groundwater is allowed to seep into the excavation, and is then collected in sumps and pumped away for disposal. Each sump is equipped with a robust pump with the capacity to handle some solids.

In favourable ground conditions sump pumping can be a very effective and economic method to achieve modest drawdowns. The technique can work well in well-graded coarse soils (such as gravelly sands, sandy gravels and coarse gravels) or in hard fissured rock. However, in unfavourable ground conditions sump pumping can lead to major problems. Instability can occur in fine-grained soils such as silts and fine sands where fine particles are drawn out of the soil, resulting in ground movements and settlements. Disposal of the water from sump pumping can also create problems, because pumped water may have a high sediment load, which can cause environmental problems at the disposal point.

Groundwater Engineering provides complete sump pumping dewatering solutions:

• Design of dewatering systems
• Equipment sales and rental
• Monitoring systems
• On-site operation and maintenance