Ever since Lucy White’s basement flooded on Tuesday, she’s been struggling to clean up the remains, get everything dried out and fight that persistent mildew smell.

“Oh, mercy,” the Lawrence resident who helps run Panda Garden restaurant said. “It’s just really stressful.”

As rain has battered the city during the past few days, the ground has become saturated. And plumbers say now comes the test to see whether aging sump pumps function properly.

“If you’ve got an old pump, you’re asking for trouble,” said Howard Kastl, of Kastl Plumbing. “And you’re probably going to get it.”

He said his business has had to reorder its supply of sump pumps twice already, after about a dozen calls for new ones in the past week or so.

Pumps that have been in place for more than seven to 10 years could be approaching the end of their useful life, Kastl said.

Other plumbers, too, like Roy Chaney, of Chaney Inc., also reported receiving about a dozen calls about needing new sump pumps.

Chaney said the volume of calls for new pumps was no more than usual for a rainy period.

Both Chaney and Kastl said one option for residents is a backup, battery-operated pump that can work during power failures or sump pump failures to provide flooding relief. Those pumps can cost between $400 and $700.

Loren Dolezal, plumbing department manager at Westlake Ace Hardware, 711 W. 23rd St., said on Thursday afternoon that sales of sump pumps there had been brisk.

“We’re down to one or two sump pumps,” he said. “We usually carry about a dozen.”

Drainage tubing has also been selling, he said.

“Anything to do with draining water has been moving pretty rapidly,” he said.

For residents like White, the frustration remains. Her plumber told her mud had gotten into the pump, she said, and recommended she place a sheet of metal around the area — a plan she hopes is met with success.

“Hopefully we’re working fine,” she said. “It does create a lot of anxiety in my daily life.”