Surface water drainage below main Drain! How To Help

[akwexavante]

Hoping some one can help.

At the back of the house surface and foul water drains / pipework go directly into a Mains Drain and there are no problems with this. The only note is that the drain access is only just below the surface.

The ground level at the front of the house is roughly 1/2mtr lower!

I need to connect up surface water drainage at the front to the back.

Thought about a possible fall pipe that enters an elbow with an access plate below ground level, then running this underground pipe around and up to the main drain at the back.

This would mean that this drain would remain full of water and up the fall pipe by as much as 1/2mtr. I would have to presumably fit a guard at the gutter to prevent excessive debris getting into the drain and it may mean accessing the elbow and flushing it say once a year to keep it clear.

Would this be an acceptable way to do it or is there a better way?

I don't want the surface water to soak away, the garden is naturally very wet already. The water table is only about 12" to 16" below surface in winter as it is. The building has suffered settlement caused by excessive surface water over its 200yr life already.

Mark

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

What is it you are hoping to drain, as your plan in its current form is unlikely to be successful....

 

[JohnD]

and also illegal.

 

[akwexavante]

This is an old house, a very old house and the rain water off the main roof at the front has been allowed to soak away at one corner at the front and the main drain is at the back of the house as much as 13" higher than the front. The drain is at surface ground level, removing the cover it measures 7" deep max from ground level!

The front corner has suffered with settlement, 13" in just over 200yrs. I believe that this has been caused by rain water of the roof being allowed to soak away at this same corner. This house and all houses in the area are built on sand and peat.

The main drain that takes away and always has taken away both surface rain water and foul water since its construction decades ago is at the back of the house and much higher than the front.

There are no drains for miles at the front and the land is naturally very wet already.

I'm wanting to install drainage to get rid of the rain water off the roof at the front without allowing it soak away anymore but at ground level the front is a lot lower than the nearest drain (at the back of the house).

I have thought about catching the rain water off the front half of the roof (55sq mtrs Apex to gutter, end to end) and storing it in water butts. But for the last 2 summers I haven't had to water the veg patch or the garden at all. So I would be storing water I would probably never get to use!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm trying to find a way of getting rain water off the roof at the front to a drain at the back without having to have a fall pipe fastened to the wall at an angle traveling sideways all the way around the building. This would do it but what an eyesore it would be.

I could I suppose put in a chamber underground and pump it up but I'm hoping to find a cheaper solution if one exists.

I have one other possible solution, in the front garden 1/2 acre there is at the mo about 120sq mtrs of concrete to be broken up and removed this summer about 20mtrs away from the house and I'm told by several people that there is a well in the garden somewhere. Can I, could I drain away into this "if it exists" ?

 

[akwexavante]

I now have a date for when the one and only drain was installed at the house by the then local council, 1853. There are 4 houses in this little hamlet and all of them drain away foul and rain water together in the same drainage system.

 

[Guitar_man]

When did adequate surface water drainàge become part of building regs. Is there an obligation of owners or neighbours to dispose of surface water properly if it is affecting other properties in say a hamlet or terrace?

 

[r896neo]

can you not go about this the other way and alter the guttering arrangement to capture all water and fall it to the rear gutter downpipes.

Obviously on a large house this may be tricky and also a visual compromise depending on depth of facsia's etc.

If the roof is a standard pitched type with gables this may not work

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Where does the drain for the 4 houses go to? Chances are it's a septic tank, and if so the rainwater should not be going anywhere near that!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

But it has been for 160 years.

And septic tanks had not been invented in 1853.

 

[akwexavante]

I'm told that there were several septic tanks many years ago but today I'm told that there is only one drain that connects to a more modern / recently installed drain at the roads end which is just short of a mile away. Foul water and rain water enter the same drain from all the properties in this hamlet and it then travels just short of a mile to the road end where it connects up to a big sewer pipe, so I'm told.

I have owned this property for nearly two years now and I'm nearing the end of its restoration. I'm told that over the years several attempts have been made to get Yorkshire Water and or the Council to look at the drainage. they have visited, talked about it, held discussions, gone away, thought about it and done nothing. I'm assuming that the costs involved greatly out way the benefits so nothings done.

I can fit a fall pipe that will start at the front high up and then travel around the house fastened to the wall at an angle and connect it up to a rear fall pipe, no problem but what a mess it would be and an eyesore too. The cottage is not a simple shape and covered in ivy and wisteria. This is exactly what I'm trying to avoid if its possible to do so.

Is there such a thing as a chamber or tank that has a pump so that it automatically pumps water up underground to the drain at the back?

 

[TheVictorian]

How much space do you have at the front of the house? Could you install a proper soakaway a good distance from the house?

 

[mfarrow]

If you're doing a proper renovation, it might be worth considering a sump with pump that can then discharge back up to your drain at the rear of the property.

Have a look at design guides from Wilo etc or contact manufacturers. It won't be cheap but cheaper than getting the water authority involved*.

* You will have to contact them to discuss the discharge flow-rate.

 

[maltaron]

A pump system is simple enough. Drain your surface water into a water butt with a submersible pump controlled by a float switch.

 

[akwexavante]

A pump system is simple enough. Drain your surface water into a water butt with a submersible pump controlled by a float switch.
Sorted, why didn't I think of this myself: http://www.marispumps.com/products/...ampaign=shop&gclid=CLT-q8Tp4r0CFScHwwodADQAxg

Thank you