How to remove a submersible water pump

To remove a submersible water pump, unplug it (or shut off the breaker), shut off any water line feeding it, disconnect the discharge pipe at the union or check valve, then lift the pump straight up by its handle or rope, never by the cord. Wear gloves. Have a bucket and towels ready because water will drain out as you lift it.

That is the whole job for most basement sump or utility pumps. Let us walk it slow.

Step by step

First, kill the power. Unplug the pump at the outlet. If it is hardwired or the outlet is in a wet spot, go to your panel and flip the breaker off. Water and power do not mix, so this is the part you do not rush.

Next, stop any water from feeding the pit. If the pump sits in a sump that fills on its own, that is fine, it will just sit low. If there is a supply line, close that valve.

Now find the discharge pipe. That is the pipe carrying water up and out. Most setups have a union fitting or a check valve a foot or two above the pump. Loosen the union by hand or with channel-lock pliers. If it is a rubber coupling with hose clamps, back the clamps off with a nut driver. Some water above the check valve will spill back, so keep your bucket under it.

Lift the pump out. Use the built in handle or the lift rope. Pulling on the power cord can rip the seal and ruin a pump you might still want. The float switch may snag on the pit wall, so guide it past with your free hand.

Set the pump in your bucket to drain. Done.

When a pump fights you

Older pumps get gunked. Iron, sediment, and mineral scale can cement a pump to the bottom of the pit. Rock it gently side to side, do not crank on the pipe. If the discharge fitting is glued PVC with no union, you may have to cut the pipe with a hacksaw or PVC cutter above the check valve, then add a union when you reinstall so the next pull is easy.

If the float is a tethered type tangled in the pit, free the tether first. A jammed float is the most common reason a pump “died” when it really just got stuck on.

Should you even pull it

If you are only removing the pump to clean it or swap a failed unit in the same pit, this is a fine weekend job. You do not need us for that.

If you are pulling the pump because the basement keeps flooding, the pump is the symptom. The cause is deeper. Water shows up at the foundation because the soil hugging your house is disturbed backfill. That is the looser fill that got put back when the home was built, and it drains slow and holds water. In New Hampshire, frost heave then pushes on the walls all winter. A bigger pump alone will not fix any of that.

The durable fix is a full perimeter interior drainage system that catches water at the floor wall joint and routes it to a sump, paired with a wall vapor barrier and a dehumidifier. That is our Forever Dry System for basements, and it is 100% guaranteed to be dry for life! See basement waterproofing for how it works. For a crawl space, the right answer is crawlspace encapsulation, which is a different build than the basement system.

A note on backup pumps

If you are removing a primary pump, think about what happens during the next power outage. A battery backup sump is the only kind we run, and a charged backup battery can pump about a residential pool’s worth of water, roughly 15,000 to 20,000 gallons before it runs down. That can be the difference during a spring storm when the grid is out. The Insurance Information Institute has good plain reading on basement water and home coverage.

We do not do exterior excavation waterproofing. In our field experience that approach tends to fail in a couple of years, and digging the outside back up is a mess. Interior drainage lasts.

What it costs to do it right

A new pump from a hardware store is a small purchase. A full waterproofing system is a bigger one, and the basement waterproofing cost runs $3,000 to $30,000 depending on how much wall you have and how wet it gets. Crawl space encapsulation cost runs $3,000 to $25,000. We give a free inspection and a free written estimate, and you get the quote within 24 hours. No number until we see your space, because the pit, the pipe run, and the water table all change the work.

We are 603 Basement Solutions, based in East Kingston NH, serving New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts. Trusted by 5,000 plus homeowners in New England, 4.9 on Google across 250 reviews, BBB A plus accredited, licensed and insured. Read the 603 guarantee for what we stand behind.

Ready when you are

If pulling the pump turned into chasing water, call us at 603-610-1770 or book your free inspection. We will tell you plainly what you need and what you do not.

Related questions

Can I lift a sump pump out by the power cord? No. The cord can tear loose from the pump body and break the seal. Lift by the handle or the rope every time.

Why does my sump pump keep running even after I clean it? A pump that cycles nonstop usually means too much water is reaching the pit, not a bad pump. That points to a drainage problem at the foundation. See basement waterproofing.

Do I need a plumber to remove a sump pump? For a basic pull in an existing pit, no. If the discharge is hardwired or glued with no union, or you are reworking the whole system, get a pro. We can look at it on a free inspection.

What if my pump is in a crawl space, not a basement? Same removal steps, but a wet crawl usually needs crawlspace encapsulation with a vapor barrier and dehumidifier, not just a new pump.