Is this a major problem or something you pros would call normal?



Backstory is my 1957 basement floods badly during big storms. So I figured I needed a perimeter drain and sump.

Jacked it, dug it, found an interior perimeter weeping tile (the hexagon clay pipe sections in gravel), amazingly no sump put or pump. So of course my basement floods once this fills up with water! (Red clay soil)

Anyway, this is my secondary stack serving kitchen. Looks like 2" ci turning up the galvanized going vertical. Vertical in bad shape so I Figured I'd cut it out like I did the other stack and convert to pvc.

My major concern is is all this water due to an underground leak, or is it groundwater?

Any tricks I can use to determine which it is? It looks mostly clear with a little oily sheen...

Ps- my main stack is dug out approx 20' away even deeper but no standing water there. Although that side of house much better graded outside.



Edited 1 times.

Flush some food coloring down the kitchen sink and see if the color appears there.

Does the water in the ditch eventually disappear? You should have a dry ditch before putting color in the sink so you can see if it changes color. Let it settle so any dirt in the water will settle and allow better view of the water color.

both good suggestions , i would probably just overload the system by flushing and running everything for about 5-10 minutes and if that water rises then you have a problem, if not then it's just your water table.