Sump pump/septic tank/something overflowing! Please help!

[Notaplumber66]

Hello friends. This is Tom. I am not an expert at all and have been browsing the forum and know you all are!

I didn’t find a similar post so I am writing this here and hope to get some guidance. We moved to a new home in 2017. I don’t know our plumbing system that well so not sure how to handle our current problem: something leaking in our back yard.

I’m attaching photos. We live in a two story home, and have a detached garage in our backyard, the detached structure has an apartment my niece lives in right now above the garage. There is a big (2ft ish?) plastic lid (it says Topp industries) that is overflowing with water, traces of some things (white?), and a slight smell which is right next to the detached structure.

I vaguely remember the builder saying we had a sump pump only in the back structure? Maybe it’s a septic tank? We have regular water bill, Clearly something is the matter, I don’t know if it will go away on its own but I don’t know what the problem is or who to call to fix it.

Do I need to call a general plumber or a company to pump the tank? Is this a small cost thing or will this be an huge expense? Any idea what this thing is and what the purpose is?

I would really appreciate any insight you have!!!

Tom

 

[GReynolds929]

That looks like it's probably a sewage ejector pump for the garage apartment. It pumps to either the sewer, or your septic tank if you have one. There is a clog or the pump isn't working. If you're comfortable you could open the lid and see if you can fix it, otherwise you should call a plumber. Also FYI the only thing that should go down the drain is water, feces, and tp. No wipes, tampons, grease.

 

[RS]

First of all, confirm that you have power at the receptacle that the pump is plugged into. Then, once you have power, plug the pump directly into the receptacle, and it should start. If it's like ours, one cord is for the float switch, the other goes directly to the pump. If the pump won't start plugged directly int a good receptacle, it will have to be pulled out and possibly replaced. It would be necessary to have another pump to pump out the lift station so you can work on it. If it's just a defective float switch that's easy to change. Good luck and let us know what happens.