Like many homeowners, I have my own submersible utility pump! (Having your own submersible utility pump is far cheaper than paying a plumber, and far easier and cheaper than renting a submersible utility pump from a tool rental store.) Normally, I use my submersible utility pump to remove water from under my pier and beam house – - – usually because of a yard drainage problem I have but, on occasion, because of a busted water pipe. However, every so often, I will find another use for my submersible utility pump which will help me solve an unexpected problem.
My yard has a gradual slope to it so that when it rains, any water that doesn’t soak in to the lawn gradually flows to one end. To take advantage of this yard slope, I put in a flowerbed garden at the end of the yard so that the excess rain water flows into the garden. Normally, this is a good thing! But, as they say, “Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing!” Recently, I had just finished tilling and planting that garden with tomatoes, potatoes, black eyed peas (cow peas), and bell peppers. Unfortunately, a week or so after that, we experienced a very severe thunderstorm which dumped an extremely large amount of rain water on our yard. When I woke up the next morning, my garden was submerged under several inches of water to the extent that only some of the taller plants were visible!
My first thought was that all the time, effort, and cost of putting in the garden was wasted. There was no way that most of the plants could survive standing in that deep of water for several days while the water gradually soaked in. My second thought was that maybe once again my submersible utility pump could “get me out of a bind”! I grabbed my utility pump, hooked up a short section of garden hose to it, and placed the pump in the lowest part of the garden. I then laid out the short section of garden hose to the street, plugged the utility pump’s electrical cord into an extension cord I had laid out, and then plugged the extension cord into an electrical outlet in my garage. I have to admit I felt more than a bit or relief as I saw the utility pump start pumping the water out of my garden. It ended up taking about 8 hours to pump out all of the excess water from the garden, but my garden was saved!
If you are a home owner, I urge you to get a good quality submersible utility pump (like the Superior 91250 Submersible Utility Pump or the Superior 91330 Submersible Utility Pump). You will find that it is one of the best investments you will ever make. A Submersible Utility Pump is very easy to operate, requires almost no maintenance, takes up very little storage space when not being used, is inexpensive, and can be a tremendous stress reliever when an emergency arises!
