a sump is a pit, or low point. a sump pump is a pump that is designed to sit at the bottom of a pit and pump it out.

I never change the oil in my car, put i do know it collects in what is commonly called the oil pan which sits under the engine. the oil drains off, and sits there. when you turn the engine on, a pump (the oil pump) pumps its about. but the oil pump isn't on dead bottom. (like a sump pump would be) so all the bits of metal, and other gunk collect there. while i wouldn't call it a sump, or the oil sump oil, i can see how it could be called that.
aside from household sump pumps, the next way i would think of a sump is related to mining, where a wet mine will have a sump for the water to drain into, and be pumped out of.

i lived in a house that was in a low lying area-- and we had a sump pump in the basement. french drains lined the wall of the basement, collecting the water, and directing it to the sump. the sump was made out of an old 50 gallon metal pail. the pump had a floatation device, like the stop cock in a flush toilet, only in this case, as the thing floated up, it turn on the sump pump motor. i would expect sumps in mine to be very similar, but larger.


the pump had a filter that need to be cleaned on a regular basis. somehow, i could never figure out how to do it. it was just too hard for me to figure out how to reach down into dank, stale ground water, grab onto a slimey filter, and clean off all the slime. i managed to never learn how to do it. i was just not smart enoung!



my other obsession