What happens if the discharge line freezes in the winter or is broken?
It is possible for the discharge lines to freeze as they are installed above the frost line. Normally, the water discharged from the sump pump is warm enough to flow without freezing to the storm drainage system. Additionally it is a cyclic flow which means it flows very fast while the pump is operating and hardly at all when not. This means that if the lines placed with the proper grade they should not contain water for an extended period of time therefore minimizing possible freezing. If it does freeze, there is an emergency discharge near the home that allows water to be pumped outside the house. Also, homeowner construction of fences and lawn watering systems could break the discharge line. In these cases, the emergency discharge would put the sump water next to the house until the homeowner can repair the line. The winter of 2002/2003 proved to be a good test for the potential of freezing discharge lines with several periods of extremely cold weather and a considerable frost depth
