How do we replace a failing sewer lift station pump in our HOA?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 28, 2026

How an HOA board handles a failing sewer lift station: alarms, floats and duplex pumps, TX, FL and CO wastewater rules, backup power, bids and a service contract.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

A sewer lift station is a pit, called the wet well, where sewage collects until float switches or a level sensor start a pump that pushes it uphill through a pressure pipe, the force main, to a gravity sewer. Most small stations have two submersible pumps that take turns. When one fails, the other keeps the station running alone, with no spare, and boards often hear about it late. Treat a pump failure as a warning about the whole station. Get the failed pump pulled and diagnosed within days, find out why it failed, and decide whether to replace one pump, both pumps, or the controls too. Before you spend reserve money, confirm the station actually belongs to the association. Wastewater rules differ by state and by who owns the station, and your declaration, plat and any utility agreement decide the ownership question. This guide is general education, not legal or engineering advice.

Confirm the station is the association's

Some subdivision lift stations belong to the city, a utility district or a private utility company, and the association has been paying for work it never owed. Others were never dedicated, and the association owns every bolt. Pull the recorded plat, the declaration, any utility or developer agreement, and the as-built drawings. Then call the city or utility district and ask in writing whether they own, operate or have ever accepted the station. If it is the association's, collect the alarm contract, the electric account and any operating agreement with the utility that receives the sewage before you call contractors. If it is someone else's, send that owner a written repair request.

The day the alarm goes off

A high-water alarm means sewage is rising in the wet well and will soon back into the lowest homes or spill from a manhole. Call your service contractor or a licensed plumbing or pump company with a vacuum truck. The truck can pump the wet well down and haul the sewage while the crew works on the pumps. Ask owners upstream to hold off on laundry and dishwashers until the station runs. Do not let a director or a handy owner climb into the wet well or lean into a manhole. OSHA lists pits and manholes among its examples of confined spaces, and a space that can hold a hazardous atmosphere needs a permit program before anyone enters. Sewer gas contains hydrogen sulfide. OSHA's hazard table says it deadens the sense of smell at 100 to 150 ppm and can cause collapse within one or two breaths at 700 to 1,000 ppm, so a person can stop smelling it right before it kills them. In Florida, report any spill. Rule 62-604.550 makes the owner of a collection system report unauthorized releases to the Department of Environmental Protection within 24 hours of learning of them. Spills over 1,000 gallons, or any spill that endangers health or the environment, go to the State Watch Office at (800) 320-0519. A written report follows within five days. In Texas and Colorado, call the utility that receives the flow and the local health department, and ask whether a state report is required.

Find out why the pump failed

Pumps rarely die of old age alone. Ask the contractor to pull the failed pump, open it, and tell you in writing what they found: rags or wipes wound around the impeller, a burned motor, a failed seal that let water into the motor, or a worn impeller. Then have them check the float switches or level sensor, the check valves on each discharge line, the contactors and overloads in the control panel, and the alarm itself. EPA's lift station fact sheet calls weekly inspections typical, depending on station size, with checks for unusual noise, vibration, heat and leaks. Ask for the run hours on each pump and the amp draw of the survivor. Lopsided hours mean the controls stopped alternating the pumps. High amps or long run times mean the survivor may be next, which is the case for replacing both now while the crew is on site.

What a rebuilt station should meet

Texas. TCEQ's design rules for lift stations are in 30 Texas Administrative Code chapter 217. They govern stations built from agency-approved plans and are the standard a Texas engineer designs a rebuild to. Section 217.61 requires at least two pumps, and the station's firm pumping capacity, meaning its capacity with the largest pump out of service, must handle the peak flow. Submersible pumps need a rail or similar system that lets a worker pull and replace one pump without entering or draining the wet well. A station with a peak flow under 120 gallons per minute must use submersible grinder pumps. Section 217.63 requires an alarm that reports power outages, pump failures and high water through an auto-dialer, SCADA or telemetry system to a location someone watches around the clock, with a self-test at the panel. The station must also keep sewage from spilling during a power outage lasting the longest outage on record for the past 60 months, or 20 minutes, whichever is longer. A portable generator counts only with a tested quick connect or a properly sized transfer switch and a licensed operator on call 24 hours a day. Florida. Rule 62-604.500 requires every pump station to be kept up so that it still has emergency pumping capability, surge and lightning protection, and a posted weatherproof sign with an emergency phone number. For new stations, rule 62-604.400 lets a small station meet the emergency pumping rule with a generator connection or portable pumps, and requires a riser on the force main with a quick connection for a portable pump. Ask for that riser in any rebuild. Colorado. Regulation 22, 5 CCR 1002-22, covers lift stations designed to receive more than 2,000 gallons a day. A new station, a new site boundary or a change in design capacity needs a site location application to the Water Quality Control Division, and lift station design review takes a Basis of Design report with final plans and specifications. The regulation does not address like-for-like pump swaps, so ask your engineer or the division before you change pump sizes.

Write the scope and bid it

A pump that matches the old nameplate is fine for an emergency swap. For a planned rebuild, have an engineer or experienced pump contractor confirm the flow and head the station needs today, and whether the work needs state or city plan review and an electrical permit. Our guide on writing an HOA request for proposal covers the bid packet. Ask bidders to price each item separately: both pumps with rails and lifting chains, the control panel, level controls and the alarm dialer, check valves and isolation valves, a generator connection or transfer switch, surge protection, wet well cleaning and coating repair, electrical permit, startup and a drawdown test. Ask for the pump warranty and the labor warranty in years. Texas Property Code 209.0052(c) requires a property owners' association contracting for services over $50,000 to solicit bids or proposals through its own bid process. Florida Statute 720.3055 requires competitive bids for contracts over 10 percent of the total annual budget, including reserves, and says the section does not limit an association's ability to get needed services in an emergency. In Colorado, follow your governing documents and bidding policy. A motion the board can adapt: "Move to award replacement of both lift station pumps and the control panel to [contractor] for $[amount] per its bid dated [date], with a not-to-exceed of $[amount] for wet well repairs found during the work, and to authorize the president to sign."

Service contract, reserve line and the owner notice

Without a service contract, a director ends up calling around for a pump crew at night. Sign one that covers a scheduled visit to check floats, alternation, amps and run hours; a monthly alarm test; wet well pump-outs to remove grease and debris at the interval the contractor recommends; generator exercise if you have one; and a stated response time for alarms at night. In the reserve study, list the pumps, panel and alarm, valves, wet well and any generator as separate components, since pumps wear out long before the concrete does. Most clogged pumps start in someone's bathroom. A notice paragraph for owners: "Sewage from our homes flows to a pump station the association owns and maintains. On [date] a pump failed after rags and wipes wrapped around it, and the repair cost $[amount]. Please flush only toilet paper. Wipes marked flushable can still clog pumps. Pour grease into a can and put it in the trash."

A sample timeline and the mistakes to avoid

Day 0: alarm, vacuum truck, failed pump pulled. Days 1 to 5: written diagnosis, ownership confirmed, temporary or replacement pump installed so the station has two working pumps again. Weeks 2 to 4: decide whether to rebuild more than the failed pump, and hire an engineer if capacity or controls are in question. Weeks 5 to 8: scope and bids. Week 9: board vote. Weeks 10 to 16: equipment lead time, permits and installation. Last step: a drawdown test with both pumps, an alarm test that reaches a real phone, and the as-built drawings in the association's records. The mistakes repeat. Boards run for months on one pump because the station still works. They replace the pump and leave the float or contactor that killed it. They let the alarm dial a phone number that belonged to a director who moved away. They skip the owner letter, so the wipes keep coming. And they send a volunteer down the ladder. Our guide on handling a sewer backup in HOA common lines covers the gravity pipes upstream.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

More on living with an hoa

Or browse all living with an hoa guides.