There are two sorts of collection systems for communities that utilize septic tanks as part of the process. STEP Sewer and STEG Sewer systems. STEP (septic tank effluent pump) sewer is the system I assumed you had. STEG (septic tank effluent gravity) sewer is the system it sounds like you have.
The pump in your basement is probably what is known as an ejector pump. It has a small basin that collects all waste (solids and all) from the house and pumps it out to the septic tank. Most houses will simply have this waste flow by gravity out to the septic tank. Houses where there is wastewater that is below the water level in the tank (ie finished basements) need to use a pump to get the water into the septic tank.
Now as I said before, there are two types of sewer collection systems that use septic tanks, STEP and STEG. In a STEP system there is a seperate pump within the septic tank that pumps water (no solids) into a common force main that is under pressure. So each house has a pump hooked to the same pipe basically. If a check valve fails in this sort of system it is not a good thing as the neighbors pump (inside his septic tank) will pump all the liquid into your septic tank. Multiply this times several neighbors and it gets ugly in a hurry.
In a STEG system... The wastewater gets into the septic tank either via gravity, or via an ejector pump (as in your situation). Once the waste is in the tank the septic tank acts just as it would if you had a normal drainfield. Except instead of flowing into a drainfield via gravity, it flows into a collection sewer (this sewer is a small diameter pipe (2-3"), much smaller than standard sewers which handle solids).
If you don't have a pump in the septic tank itself you have a STEG system. The bad check valve in the ejector pump causes the water in the pipe to drain back into the pump basin after each cycle. There should be no water from the septic tank flowing back. So there really isn't great concern that sewage backupwill occur.
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He said that basically, the pump finishes its job - and then the rest of the street's water basically fills up our system, so our pump is basically pumping for the whole street... But I don't get how that works... :S
My friend initially suggested that I unhook the pump myself and take it in, but as long as there's no pump - there's no toilet flushing, no showers, no laundry, etc... so I figure if I have someone come out with the necessary parts, they can fix it here, and it'll be done faster.
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That part confuses me as well. It shouldn't happen that way. That pump in your basement only moves the water into the septic tank. Once it gets there one of two things happens... either another pump pumps it somewhere else... or gravity (the water justs flows downhill) takes the water via the sewer downgrade to where-ever it goes.
Imagine if what he said was the case... and you removed the pump and the check valve, all the neighbors water would flow backwards through your septic tank and fill your basement. I don't see how it can happen that way. Groundwater maybe, but not others wastewater. Do you have a high water table there? Has it rained alot? Water leaking into the tank and back into the house through a faulty check valve is the only thing that would cause it to act like you described.
Am I correct in assuming you have a STEG not a STEP system? You do not have a pump in the septic tank as well... correct?
edited for some typo's =) (late post)