To myself and my neighbors in arid California, people with enough rainfall and a high enough water table to need a sump pump seem fortunate. My friend who lives in the Detroit area would disagree.

When the skies open and power lines go down, a reliable backup sump pump could be the difference between a dry basement and thousands of dollars in damage (along with a big headache). And because ...

We tested four of these pumps, our favorite of which was the Wayne WSS30Vn Basement Backup Sump Pump because of its ease of setup, reasonable price, and high water-pumping capacity.