“Customers call and want us to pump the water out, but they don’t know where to pump it,” Eller explained. “It’s important to know in advance where the pump needs to be installed and where the water will be pumped. There must be a plan. It sounds obvious, but customers really need to be prepared with an answer to those questions. They should know where their low-lying flood zones are located. They should know where the emergency temporary pumps should be installed and where to pump it to. If the best place to pump it out is inaccessible, this is also a problem.”
Generally, in South Florida, the excess stormwater pumps into a canal or river. Permanent pump stations depend on canals being drained, maintained and dredged. “Pumps can’t magically send all the water down a canal that has tree limbs and debris in it,” Eller said. “They must maintain their sumps and their drainage systems. If not, pumps won’t help a whole lot after the fact. Many stormwater lift stations have trash racks, but they can also get clogged when you need them the most. There may be several feet of weeds up against the intake screens. Sometimes this will cause a pump to fail.”