The storms that knock out power in Bergen County are the same storms that fill basements. It is worth knowing in advance which parts of the plumbing depend on electricity, because a few of them fail at exactly the wrong moment.
What stops
The sump pump. This is the big one. Groundwater rises during the storm, and the pump that would have handled it is silent. A battery backup pump, tested twice a year, is the answer for any finished basement, and a water alarm on the floor gives warning for the rest.
A well pump. No power means no water at all: no taps, no toilets. Fill the bathtub and a few jugs when a storm is forecast. Toilets can be flushed by pouring a bucket of water into the bowl. Do not run the well pump on a generator unless it has been wired for it by an electrician.
The boiler or furnace. Gas boilers need electricity for their controls and the circulator pump. In winter, an outage of more than a day risks frozen pipes. Keep the house as warm as you can, open cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls, and let taps trickle if it goes on. If it looks like days, drain the system or at least the exposed pipes, or call a plumber to do it.
Ejector pumps. If a basement bathroom or laundry drains uphill through a pump in a sealed pit, do not use those fixtures during an outage. The pit will overflow.
Tankless water heaters and power-vented tank heaters. These need electricity to run. A standard gas tank heater with a pilot light keeps working.
Whole-house water treatment. A softener or a UV filter stops. Water still flows through most softeners on bypass, but not through some filters.
What keeps working
Town water pressure, drains that flow by gravity, and a standard gas water heater. A house on town water with a gravity sewer connection can carry on more or less normally, apart from heat and the sump pump.
Before a storm
- Test the sump pump and its battery backup
- On a well: fill the tub and containers, charge phones, and know that flushing means a bucket
- Move stored items off the basement floor
- Check that the sump discharge outside is clear
- Know where the main water shut-off is, in case a pipe freezes during a winter outage
Generators
A portable generator can run a sump pump or a boiler, but only through a proper transfer switch fitted by an electrician, or by plugging the pump directly into the generator with an outdoor-rated cord. Never run a generator indoors or in an attached garage, and never plug it into a wall outlet.
After the power returns
- Check the sump pit is emptying
- Let the water heater recover before judging whether it works
- Listen for the boiler's pump and check radiators heat
- On a well, run the taps until the water runs clear; air and sediment are normal for a minute
When to call a plumber
- Fitting a battery backup sump pump or a water-powered backup
- Draining a heating system before a long winter outage
- Any pump that does not restart when the power returns
- Frozen or burst pipes after a cold outage
Find a licensed plumber near your town.