This case study looks at how a homeowner protected one vulnerable doorway with an APP RS32EA automatic puddle pump, set to clear water before it could reach the threshold.
The challenge
This property's entrance sat in a low area. Wider flood protection was keeping the rest of the house dry, but water would still pool at this one doorway during a flood event, and if left unmanaged it could rise high enough to enter the porch, before entering the house.
The obvious suggestion would be adding more drainage, but that was not suitable here.
The drainage network serving the area was already known to surcharge during flood conditions and was protected with a non-return valve. During a flood the system may have no spare capacity, and connecting into a surcharged drain can introduce more risk rather than less. A pumped drainage system may have had benefits, but space was tight and the budget was small.
A dedicated puddle pump was the answer.
Why the APP RS32EA
The deciding feature was automatic operation. The RS32EA switches on at around 50mm of water, lower than the depth at which water would start to enter the property, so it activates before the threshold is reached. Rather than relying on someone being at home and monitoring the water and switching a pump on by hand, the system responds the moment water starts to pool.
Its panel float switch also makes it well suited to a tight, discreet installation, it activates reliably within a compact space, which matters at a doorway where there is little room to work. As an affordable automatic pump, it is a proportionate solution for protecting a single residual low point.
The installation
The homeowner had a neat housing built around the pump to keep things tidy, leaving a deliberate gap underneath so floodwater can still reach the pump during an event. Day to day the arrangement sits largely hidden behind a wheelie bin, a reminder that flood resilience measures do not have to be visually intrusive.
The one change from the standard setup was removing the non-return valve on the pump discharge. In this specific installation, backflow through the discharge was not a concern, and removing the valve reduced the risk of airlocks and avoided an unnecessary restriction in the line. This was a judgement made for this particular arrangement; on most installations a non-return valve is there for good reason.
The outcome
The RS32EA gave the homeowner a practical, discreet and automatic way to manage floodwater at the property's most vulnerable entry point. No setup can guarantee against all flooding, but this one helps keep water away from the doorway and reduces the risk of it entering the porch, without leaning on an already surcharged drain during a flood.
A small, targeted pump can be an important part of a wider flood resilience plan, especially where a property has one remaining low point that needs specific protection. Pair it with measures that keep water out, such as a threshold seal or barrier, and you cover both halves of the problem: stopping water entering, and removing what still gets in.
For automatic pumps suited to this kind of job, see our puddle pumps and flood control ranges, or for a permanent collect-and-pump installation, our packaged pump stations. To help stop water entering the doorway, our main company supplies flood barriers.
A note on discharge: always direct pumped water to a sensible, legal discharge point, and never connect into a drain that surcharges during flooding without checking it can take the flow. Also be sure not to pump into someone else's land where it could exacerbate their risk.
