They also require someplace to pump the water into. Apparently the water from one of the breeches was being pumped right back to its source, only to return again. Unless the pumps work faster than the leak, the pumps will lose that game every time.
Amen. Yeah, I kind of left that out in my "brilliant" analysis, didn't I? You need a place to pump the water into. Putting it right back into the Lake isn't going to pay the landlord here, is it?