Flooded garden

[Gardennightmare2024]

evening all sorry long post trying to give correct details

I’m new here and I’m hoping someone here will know what these cast iron pipes are. And at the bottom of the bottom there’s a metal straight edge a bit bigger than the width of a brick.
House deeds and Severn Trent water searches are useless. No pipes, manhole lids or anything on maps. No house plans from the council. No records of anything.
Since new neighbours moved in and they had some huge conifers, shrubs and tress cut down my garden has become flooded.
Their garden at the top patio area is higher than mine. But I’ve never had flooding ground water problem in 20 years. Neighbours had overgrown stuff cut down last summer and since then it’s weird my garden is flooded.
I have a steel manhole chamber at the very bottom of garden. We found out that drain fed into the street around the corner. The pipe connects those houses surface downpipe water. That pipe was old clay broken by tree roots. Severn Trent got roots out last year and about 8 weeks they relined it repaired it. It’s not the source of my flooded garden as it at the bottom.
The top and down 3/4 quarters of garden is flooded. So I’ve been digging and found parts of old cast iron pipe. Its direction is diagonal but can’t find the rest of the pipe under the boundary fence on my right.
Severn Trent visited again. Said it was a clay land drain pipe. Camera only went in 6 ft and hit what they said was a brick manhole. Refused to accept its old sewer drainage running diagonal towards the neighbours blocked off downpipe.
I’m chasing their reports and camera footage. I’ve carried on digging trenches found a long cast iron pipe which could have been connected to the other pipe. And at bottom of the pipe towards bottom of lawn is this metal wall frame structure that I want to dig around tomorrow.
Also I know there’s a huge concrete round lid structure buried under soil at the very bottom of the garden. I’ve been told it’s a storm drain feeding the roads surface water going down to the street back of our houses.
Going to try a metal detector tomorrow see if it picks up the rest of the long cast iron pipe see if it goes in the direction of this mystery buried concrete storm drain.
Anyway I’m fuming because the new neighbour won’t dig her derelict garden to find this broken drainage pipe that I guarantee leads to her council bodge job blocked over downpipe gully. She’s been asking council demanding they dig her garden up. Asking Severn Trent. She’s trying to get her garden dug over and levelled for free by anyone but herself paying. The cheeky cow was in my garden when Severn Trent was here telling me to dig my lawn up. Trying to get the spade to dig. So her garden and the other 2 houses are wet derelict grass areas and my garden is landscaped but the lowest garden suffering the damage. I’ve spent 20 years landscaping it. Changed patio etc many times. Just had a very very expensive patio last spring. My was a turf laid lawn is now a mud river.
I’ve dug trenches to try to get the water to flow to the bottom gravel area but this ground water just keeps flowing it won’t stop!
So any idea what this cast iron pipe is ?
What this section of metal frame is ?
Sorry long post
I’m fuming and have anxiety.
My was lovely garden is ruined.
It was my quiet place my sacred place to pottering around growing plants in greenhouse.
Had a specialist civil engineer grounds expert visit this morning 9 k quote to do herringbone drainage but he said it might not work because of the constant flow of ground water coming down from the neighbours gardens.
What can I do ?
Last photo is the neighbours garden. Shared alleyway behind the gate. The roof downpipe was by the back gate. Council just moved pipe around wall through alley out to front drains front of houses.
Any ideas please

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I’m new here and I’m hoping someone here will know what these cast iron pipes are. And at the bottom of the bottom there’s a metal straight edge a bit bigger than the width of a brick.
House deeds and Severn Trent water searches are useless. No pipes, manhole lids or anything on maps. No house plans from the council. No records of anything.
Since new neighbours moved in and they had some huge conifers, shrubs and tress cut down my garden has become flooded.
Their garden at the top patio area is higher than mine. But I’ve never had flooding ground water problem in 20 years. Neighbours had overgrown stuff cut down last summer and since then it’s weird my garden is flooded.

Cutting trees, bushes and etc. will limit how much rain water is consumed, and cause more flooding.

If you have had no luck with local utility searches, and it is definitely a steel pipe, you could maybe try tracing it's route beyond your garden, with a metal detector. Have you also asked Transco, if it might be a gas main?

Another possibility would be to look up old maps of the area, to see what was there, before your house was built, assuming the pipe might be an industrial relic. Have you tried listening for any noise of flow in the pipe, with a prob?

 

[Gardennightmare2024]

Hi Harry
Thank you for reading my long post.
I tried council highways planning department who were useless not interested. Severn Trent maps only show the sewer lateral flow on front of our terrace houses. We have dug out a random 6ft length and it’s definitely cast iron or steel. My theory is that piece was connected under the fence boundary up the slope of the neighbours garden which lines up with their blocked up downpipe gully.
But good idea I have not phoned Transco.
Tried south staffs water…no maps.
These houses were built in 1939.
The whole street on my side of the road does not have any manholes in the front gardens. Can’t see any in our back gardens either. I told Severn Trent this but they can’t be arsed to look and investigate.
My brothers friend is meant to be borrowing us his metal detector tomo. We quickly tried it last Monday which beeped a lot. It lead me to find the pipe running straight down the lawn.
Going to do a thorough check tomo and put canes in metal beep spots. Want to go over to next door neighbours and marked out the beep spots. Try locate the blocked up gully as it could be cast iron.
I understand higher gardens ground rain water finds its way to lower ground garden but in 20 years never had this much water.
It won’t stop trickling from the boundary fence section. It’s a constant flow down the trench.
Would house insurance be able to investigate the neighbours garden. If metal detector beeps in the direction I think it will. Could house insurance step in to instruct council or whoever owns the mystery pipes to dig up and fix the problem?
I hate not knowing the answer to this problem. If I hadn’t spent out and effort on new patio I would just hire a mini digger with driver and dig the lot up until I found every bloody pipe and manhole. But mini digger will smash new patio and smash up my slab steps.
So frustrated fuming

 

[Gardennightmare2024]

Oh I found this photo from when neighbour had a team in to chop the conifers and a lilac tree shrub. The lilac tree was close by the back gate. Conifers was along the boundary. If you look closely zoom in
I circled a section of photo. Not best quality but it looks like a small section of clay pipe ?

 

[Notch7]

My guess is your neighbour has broken a storm drain.

Does it stop during drier period of weather?

 

[Gardennightmare2024]

Hi Noth
Na lol it’s like the council version of water world
It’s been muddy since last summer got worse since autumn and since December it’s progressed. Then I dug a hole looking for the location problem. The whole filled up with water and it ran through this open ended pipe which flooded the lawn. Severn Trent came saw the pipe a few weeks ago and refused to dig it out. They was adamant it was clay land drainage. A private issue. They had some pipe finding equipment. The one guy said he’s the site engineer manager and his opinion or diagnosis was right. Refused to listen to my theory it could be connected on a Y Or T gully junction under the neighbours downpipe.
I don’t know if neighbour had the tree removal team dig any conifer and lilac tree roots out because I was at work. Managed to get a photo on my lunch break, but can’t tell if any roots in that photo. And I think I see part of a clay pipe.
I’m going to phone Transco cadent tomo ask for an inspection visit.
I’ve been trying to dig the oblong section but I wouldn’t budge and definitely metal. I scraped it and banged it with the spade.
Very stupid of me
Scared now
See pic below
It looks like a brick wall
It’s running across the width of the garden
I’ve poked a metal rod across and reckon it goes along 6ft across the right side
Haven’t checked the left side of trench
The trench has the cast iron pipe running down near enough centre of lawn
End of the pipe butts or slots into the part that looks like a wall

 

[Gardennightmare2024]

Update
Carried on digging and found the pipe that is going downhill middle of lawn is connected to an oblong junction box and pipe feeds to left side of lawn towards to boundary fence under my big palm tree and it’s leaking seeping water. Also found more pipes at top of lawn which looks like it’s starting from under my patio and that open pipe is leaking water. Think it’s 4 inch cast iron. It’s feeding across neighbours so it must be something major.
Anyone have any ideas?
Anyone ever seen an oblong junction box before ?

 

[Koolpc]

Blimey, what a mess you are in!! Def need to find where the water is coming from. And make a time line of events to find out what was happening or being done when you first noticed the water.

Hope you get to the bottom of it.

 

[Gardennightmare2024]

Severn Trent told me to dig so I got a metal detector a strong metal stick and my no bend spade and kept digging last few Fridays weekends. My soil is not clay under lawn it’s easy to dig but very muddy and slippy. I can’t find any photos online of any metal junction boxes like this.
Any ideas ?
Storm drain pipes ?
I think it’s something major
My garden is destroyed
Council been ignoring my requests for help
No manholes on our houses
No plans or maps on house deeds
Water drainage search is vague
Sewer at front gardens
But I think there’s a concrete storm lid buried bottom of garden which would be impossible to dig up and cause more destruction
The only metal manhole is at bottom of garden which runs diagonally across our 4 gardens which feeds houses around the next street. It’s not on water searches maps. It’s had tree roots from other garden taken out and re lined. ST and council didn’t believe my theory but I was right.
I’m like a dog with a bone. Messing with the wrong woman with a no bend spade and persistence

 

[bernardgreen]

I think there’s a concrete storm lid buried bottom of garden

A shot in the dark but could this concrete be part of an air raid shelter from WWII and the pipe work used as ventilation before water table rose and flooded the shelter.

 

[Gardennightmare2024]

Na
It’s a long 6 ft cast iron pipes coming from under patio going going lawn straight line. At top of lawn it’s got small joints and another 6 ft pipe in a diagonal angle heading back towards the neighbours on the right. At the end of the lawn it’s at the end of 3 joined 6 ft pipes it joins into a 2 hole junction box and a 6 ft pipe at a right angle going left towards neighbour on the right.
I think the main pipe continues straight under rest of the lawn under the rest of the garden into a hidden buried storm drain.
Also think the beginning of the pipe under the patio where it starts from is blocked with soil which is why it’s not pouring out of water. And the pipe going towards the neighbour on the left is blocked with soil, both compacted.
So my worry is if I flush them out I could end up with more flooding.
I have a suspicion I’ve uncovered the abandoned main sewer from 1800’s which possibly leads to the buried concrete drain. But why would a 1800 sewer connect to a performed cast drain lid which I would assume it’s more like 1970’s

See pics
Patio is high with steps going down and my house is on the flat part of a street which has a big hill other houses on hill. My patio has retaining walls it has steps and it steps down to the large lawn area. Pipe is under lawn to the left of the stepping paving stones, haven’t dug yet. Hoping that length of pipe is intact to connect new pipes to if it turns out to be live. Then I have a major problem.

 

[Gardennightmare2024]

Pipe runs from under patio so it must run from the road to front garden to the back garden. Must be 1800’s sewer line.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

@Hugh Jaleak

 

[Why Not Indeed]

That square-section thing with the round holes in. I've no idea what it is, but how about hose it down so you can get a clearer picture, and then maybe someone might recognise it?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

A shot in the dark but could this concrete be part of an air raid shelter from WWII and the pipe work used as ventilation before water table rose and flooded the shelter.

..and another shot in the dark....

I cannot imagine steel being put in by a pro, for any drainage purpose, nor back in the day, would the route zig-zag the way it appears to do. My own guess would be it is some house-owners attempt to mitigate flooding in the past - someone with access to cheap, or free scrap steel.

How long have you lived there? This is the wettest year, for a very long time, perhaps that drainage system has just become chocked, and simply overwhelmed.