TL;DR
A high-water alarm is a float-triggered alert mounted in a septic pump tank or sump basin that sounds a horn or light when effluent rises above the level where the pump should have started, warning of pump failure, a tripped breaker, or a stuck float before sewage backs up or floods the yard. Codes for pressure-distribution and mound systems generally require one on a separate circuit from the pump so a single breaker cannot silence both.
What it means
A high-water alarm is a float-triggered alert mounted in a septic pump tank or sump basin that sounds a horn or light when effluent rises above the level where the pump should have started, warning of pump failure, a tripped breaker, or a stuck float before sewage backs up or floods the yard. Codes for pressure-distribution and mound systems generally require one on a separate circuit from the pump so a single breaker cannot silence both. Modern panels add cellular or Wi-Fi notification.
Where it sits in the glossary
High-water alarm is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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