I just bought a custom home in Weatherford, Texas. I'm not entirely sure my sewer pump is working. My front yard slopes upward to the street. My worry is that I don't have a gravity sewer pipe and I need the pump to reach the street. All of my neighbors have sloping yards as well, but they don't have pumps. My home was put in long before there's was, in 2005. They told me that their builders dug deep enough to make their sewer pipes low enough for gravity, to meet the city's code. Makes sense. But why does my main sewer line have a pump attached to it? I opened both pipes and noticed standing sewage in both. I experimented with this a bit. I had my wife flush the toilet to see what was going on in the pipe. When the toilet was flushed, the sewage in the pipe started to rise and then it retracted and then it came back to its original height. I experimented with it again by unplugging the sewer pump and it exhibited the same behavior. I haven't noticed any backups in the house, but I'm wondering if I've got a future problem to deal with here. And I'm not even sure the sewer pump is necessary, but I'm worried that I'm seeing standing sewage in the main line pipes. Any ideas as to why this is happening? Thanks! --Ryan

Depending on where you opened the pipes, there should be water in them. There's a check valve in the outgoing pipe to keep the water from going back into the pump. Can you show a picture of where you opened the pipes ?

Here's a photo: [www.dropbox.com]. I circled where the pump is located. I think it's more appropriately called an ejector pump. Why is is this needed in the first place, if none of my neighbors have them? I also put an arrow to note the direction of flow. You can see where the pump is plugged in. All three pipes have water and sewage at the bottom of them. But when the toilet flushes... you'll see the water rise and retreat and then go back to its original level. Any ideas? Thanks much!

Any ideas out there?