Installing an Sump Pump in a Window Well?

[akamax]

Hello

Does anyone know if there is a sump pump durable enough to be installed outside in a window well? I live in the Midwest where the temperature drops below freezing in the winter.

Background:
Steady periods of rain (6+ inches in a couple days) will cause water to slowly come up through the bottom of the window well and spill into the basement around the frame of the window. This only happens about once a year, but it involves a finished part of the basement.

I have observed during these heavy and prolonged rainfalls that water will tend to pool about 10 feet from the window well. So I also intend to put a french drain along the back side of the house.

I would like to dig down in the window well and install a sump pump, in case the french drain idea does not solve the problem. An outdoor plug receptacle is about 20 feet from the window well.

Is this a workable idea? Are there outdoor sump pumps that are made to withstand winter weather? I wouldn't anticipate there being any water in the window well except during the spring and summer when we get those heavy rains.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

[Hooter]

The french drain likely will solve this. Do you have any way of drain from the well itself? A 3 or 4" pipe installed below sill level and draining away from window would be passive method that didnt require the pump. Also, if your area is like mine, you may lose power to your house at the worst part of the storm. If you do the pump, check out what is available on line with a Google search. You may have to install an outlet (GFI) closer to the pump and it may have to be a dedicated circuit. If the well is not filling from direct rain, but instead "seep" water from the pooling area, you need to move that standing water out. Good Luck

[akamax]

Thanks for the reply!

I also considered draining the window well, but it is 2 1/2 feet below the surface. There is no where to drain to in the backyard due to a higher grade, and going to the front of the house would involve a distance of 70+ feet before the piping could surface again...

I figured pumping the water to the side of the house where the grade would carry it away would work.