How to Bury a Sump Pump Discharge Line

Determine the grade of your land and the proper placement of the dry well. Avoid building a trench and dry well on a section of the yard that slopes toward your house or is within 10 feet of a building with a basement. Avoid placing the dry well near septic tanks, sewer lines, underground utility lines and wellheads. Contact your local utility company to check for underground cables or pipes before you dig.

Mark the line on the ground with flour dust or a garden hose where you will dig a trench and bury the pipeline. The trench must extend a minimum of 10 feet from the house foundation. Consider a long trench leading at least 25 feet away from the building to ensure that all water is completely discharged and does not return back into the sump well.

Dig a trench, starting at the foundation, that is at least 18 inches deep and 24 inches wide. In some regions you must dig the trench below the frost line, at least 24 inches deep or deeper, to prevent water in the pipes from freezing during the winter. Check with your local building codes department to determine the recommended trench depth for your area.

At the end of the trench, dig a deep hole for the dry well basin. If you are using a large garbage can, drill numerous holes in the plastic with a large drill bit. Cut out a hole the same diameter as the pipe you will be using, approximately 12 to 24 inches up from the bottom of the can, depending on your trench depth.

Lay landscape fabric or burlap in the hole. Place the dry well basin or garbage can in the hole on top of the fabric. Wrap the fabric around the outside of the basin or can; tie the fabric onto the basin or can if necessary. The fabric will prevent soil and debris from infiltrating the basin or can and causing clogs that will block the drainage system.

Fill the trench with 5 to 6 inches of gravel. Lay large strips of landscape fabric or burlap into the trench. The tops of the fabric should extend out of the trench and over the top of the soil approximately 6 to 8 inches. The fabric will cover the pipes when you install them.

Go to the foundation wall and connect your sump pump discharge pipe to a solid wall -- not a perforated -- PVC pipe. Use a solid wall pipe for the first 10 to 12 feet of the trench away from your foundation. Connecting the sump pump discharge pipe to the PVC pipe depends largely on your sump pump pipe system. If you use a flexible corrugated discharge pipe, you will need to replace the pipe with a solid PVC pipe and fittings. For best results, glue the PVC fittings and pipes with special PVC cement adhesive. Follow the manufacturer's instructions on the cement adhesive container.

Connect the perforated pipe to the solid pipe in the trench with PVC fittings and PVC cement adhesive.

Use a level to adjust the slope of the pipes in the trench. The pipe system must slope away from the house at a slope of 1/4 inch per foot or steeper. Remove or add gravel to the trench to create the proper slope.

Connect additional PVC pipes, if necessary. Use the level to adjust the slope of the pipes in the trench.

Cover the tops of the pipes with the landscape fabric or burlap.

Shovel gravel into the trench until the pipes are completely covered. Shovel gravel around the basin in the trench until the hole is filled with gravel about 3 inches from the top of the basin.

Fill the basin with large stones. Fill the hole around the basin with top soil.

Fill the remainder of the trench with topsoil.