Draining garden water into foul drain or culvert stream

[rdak]

Hi
Hope this is a relevant place to post if not then apologies and please ignore!

I have been in my property nearly a year and found out the back garden is very prone to flooding as we get a lot of groundwater soaking through from houses further up the hill and we have a garage block nextdoor which I think is trapping the water. Luckily the water doesnt come near the house but it is making a large portion of the small garden unusable particularly for young children. Have been advised that soakaways on clay soil are a waste of time and the only viable solution is to discharge the water off the property with drainage channels. Option 1 is a foul sewer manhole on our property. The advantage is that it is fairly near the problem area but we already have blockage problems in this pipe due to a shallow slope and a blistered pipe. It is possible discharging water down would actually help keep it flowing but obviously if it does get blocked is going to cause a flooding problem. Other concern is that I understand it is not legal to discharge garden water down a foul sewer..is that right? Someone who was prepared to do the job said in practice no action would be taken but Im obviously wary about doing this.

Option 2 is a manhole half on our property half on the pavement leading to a culverted stream about 18ft below. This would be a longer journey for the water to make and maybe only possible by using a pump but I am unsure about the legalities of drilling a hole into the brick walls of the culvert chamber even though technically it is under my property.

Does anyone have any experience with either of these scenarios? Thanks

 

[chris watkins]

Hi
Hope this is a relevant place to post if not then apologies and please ignore!

I have been in my property nearly a year and found out the back garden is very prone to flooding as we get a lot of groundwater soaking through from houses further up the hill and we have a garage block nextdoor which I think is trapping the water. Luckily the water doesnt come near the house but it is making a large portion of the small garden unusable particularly for young children. Have been advised that soakaways on clay soil are a waste of time and the only viable solution is to discharge the water off the property with drainage channels. Option 1 is a foul sewer manhole on our property. The advantage is that it is fairly near the problem area but we already have blockage problems in this pipe due to a shallow slope and a blistered pipe. It is possible discharging water down would actually help keep it flowing but obviously if it does get blocked is going to cause a flooding problem. Other concern is that I understand it is not legal to discharge garden water down a foul sewer..is that right? Someone who was prepared to do the job said in practice no action would be taken but Im obviously wary about doing this.

Option 2 is a manhole half on our property half on the pavement leading to a culverted stream about 18ft below. This would be a longer journey for the water to make and maybe only possible by using a pump but I am unsure about the legalities of drilling a hole into the brick walls of the culvert chamber even though technically it is under my property.

Does anyone have any experience with either of these scenarios? Thanks

They are right it is not legal to discharge your surface water into a foul drainage system. The sewage systems are struggling to cope as it is without adding to the problem with your surface run off.
Speak to your local Building Control Office for advice if you believe it is coming from other land / properties they maybe able to help. http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_AD_H_2010.pdf

 

[Ermintrude]

The people who's water is coming into your property are liable and should be paying for the remediation. Speak to environmental health!

 

[rpm]

Ground water / surface water, are we talking about rain water here? Apologises if it`s a dumb question.

 

[chris watkins]

Ground water / surface water, are we talking about rain water here? Apologises if it`s a dumb question.

Rain water is what comes out of the sky, once it gathers together on the land or surface it is thus, if it soaks into the surface & travels down or indeed across once it hits an impervious layer it would be ground water.
Hope that clears it up for you rpm?

 

[rpm]

Rain water is what comes out of the sky, once it gathers together on the land or surface it is thus, if it soaks into the surface & travels down or indeed across once it hits an impervious layer it would be ground water.
Hope that clears it up for you rpm?

That`s the way I was reading it Chris therefore I was interested how rain water running down the hill from other peoples property was their responsiabilty as it came from above.

 

[rpm]

Probably best to add that my back garden takes ages to drain the water after a heavy rainfall due the soil in this area and the ground up hill from the garden belongs to the council hence my interest in the post.

 

[chris watkins]

Ask those poor souls on the Somerset levels they will tell you all about who is responsible for water run off.
Unfortunately 9 times out of 10 it is where the houses are built that is the problem. Man still thinks he can control nature!!

 

[rpm]

We had it around here, not as bad but still caused houses to flood.

 

[Ermintrude]

That`s the way I was reading it Chris therefore I was interested how rain water running down the hill from other peoples property was their responsiabilty as it came from above.

Nope your not allowed to discharge your rain water over any boundary of your property unless in deeds. If it's in a pipe below ground connected to a sewer ok. But to allow your surface run off to enter another persons property and it cause a nuisance is both a contravention of building regs but also "terms if your lease / free hold"

 

[rpm]

Thanks guys, but don`t think I`m gonna beat the council on this one. To be honest I was more interested in what was being said just to see if I understood right. Gonna move soon anyway.

 

[Ermintrude]

I would ask environmental health round. It's free and they are supposed to be impartial.

 

[rpm]

Thanks for the input

 

[Cello]

Re the soakaway idea... A you have surmised, the water is unlikely to drain away very quickly through the clay but what is underlying the clay layer? As a long shot, it might be worthwhile digging a hole to find out whether there is a permeable layer underneath. If so - go ahead with your soakaway and avoid the legal problems.