I've got this hole in my basement that usually has standing water in it. There's a small line from the furnace that drains into it, and it tends to overflow every so often, giving off a bad smell. It's particularly bad when it rains a lot and we use a significant amount of water at once. For instance, last night I ran the washer while it was raining, and it overflowed. This has happened before when the upstairs and downstairs toilets were flushed simultaneously while the washing machine was in use. My house is from the 1960s and my city has a combined sewer and stormwater system, so they direct waste into the local lake when there's heavy rainfall. The hole is also really close to where the sewage line enters the house, just a few feet away. I mentioned that there's typically standing water, but I actually meant it's always there.
3 Answers
It seems like a typical basement floor drain, and that standing water is likely the top of a trap. Ideally, it should connect to a larger hole with a pump to move the water out of your house. You might want to look into addressing that setup.
You really should put a sump pump in that hole and run the drain line outside. It could help prevent future overflows during heavy rains or when multiple water sources are in use.
It sounds like you've got a sump well situation. You should definitely have a sump pump in there to handle the drainage. If you don't, that could be part of the problem!