Okay, so the other day I noticed this nasty smell coming from the basement. It was like, straight-up sewage. I was like, “Oh hell no, this ain’t good.” I knew I had a sump pump down there, but I’d honestly never really messed with it before. So, first things first, I grabbed my flashlight and headed down to investigate.
The smell was definitely strongest around the sump pit. I peered inside, and yup, the water level was pretty high, almost to the top. And it looked… murky. Not good. I figured the smell was probably coming from stagnant, nasty water sitting in there.
Figuring Out the Problem
- High water level: The water was way higher than it should have been.
- Murky water: It looked gross and dirty, not clear at all.
- The smell: Definitely sewage-like, which was the biggest red flag.
I put on some gloves – seriously, who wants to touch that stuff? – and tried to see if anything was blocking the pump. I couldn’t see any obvious clogs, like toys or anything. I knew I needed to get that water level down, so I decided to manually activate the pump. I found the float switch and lifted it up.
The pump kicked on – thank goodness! – and started pumping water out. But the smell… still there. Even after the water level went down, the lingering odor was awful. It was obvious that just getting the water out wasn’t going to solve the whole problem.
So, I filled a bucket with clean water and some bleach. I’m no expert, but I figured bleach kills germs and smells, right? I carefully poured the bleach solution into the sump pit, making sure not to splash it everywhere. Then I let the pump run a few more cycles, flushing out the pit with the cleaner water.
After a couple of rounds of this, the smell started to fade. It wasn’t completely gone, but it was WAY better. I made a mental note to check the sump pump more often, maybe even clean it out every few months to prevent this from happening again. This whole experience taught me that even something as simple as a sump pump needs a little attention now and then!
