| You are welcome to use this article on your website | | | | trying to drain, so you only want your pipe deep |
| or in your newsletter as long as you reprint it as is, | | | | enough at this point so it can be covered with soil. |
| including the contact information at the end. Website | | | | Once the trench is dug just lay the pipe in. At the |
| URLs must be active links. You are welcome to use | | | | highest end of the pipe you'll need to insert a strainer |
| this article with an affiliate link, | | | | into the end of the pipe to keep soil from entering the |
| Do you have one or more areas in your yard that hold | | | | pipe. Cover the pipe with some washed stone, and |
| water after a rainfall? This is a common problem, and | | | | then backfill the trench with soil. The washed stone |
| sometimes difficult to solve. Over the years I've talked | | | | creates a void around the pipe so that the water can |
| with dozens of people trying to battle this problem, and | | | | find its way into the pipe. |
| on several occasions I have been hired to solve the | | | | Washed stone is usually inexpensive stone that has |
| problem. So what can be done? | | | | been washed so it is clean and free of mud. The only |
| | | | part of the pipe that needs to be exposed is the low |
| Too often people come to me asking what kind of a | | | | end, where the water exits the pipe. Do not put a |
| tree, or what kind of shrubs can be planted in a wet | | | | strainer in that end. |
| area to dry it up. This is the wrong approach. Most | | | | |
| plants, and I mean almost all plants are not going to | | | | If you do not have anywhere that you can drain the |
| survive in an area where the soil is soggy for | | | | water to, you still might be able to do something. But |
| extended periods of time. The roots need to breathe, | | | | first consider what is happening, and why the water is |
| and planting a tree or shrub in a water area will kill it. | | | | standing where it is. Even if you have well drained soil, |
| | | | water cannot soak in fast enough during periods of |
| Another common approach is to try and fill the area | | | | heavy rain, and it runs across the top of the ground |
| with topsoil. Depending on a variety of variables, this | | | | and eventually finds the lowest point, and either leaves |
| can work, but many times adding additional soil to a | | | | the property, or gets trapped. |
| wet area will only shift the water to another area just | | | | |
| a few feet away. | | | | If you have well drained soil, the trapped water usually |
| | | | soaks in. If you have heavy clay soil, the water lays |
| If you are lucky enough to have some natural fall to | | | | there, and the soil underneath becomes very |
| your property, or a drainage ditch nearby, this problem | | | | compacted, and the problem compounds itself. The |
| is easy enough to solve. If you happen to live in an | | | | more water that stands, the worse the drainage gets. |
| area that was developed over the past few years, | | | | What I have done in areas like this, where there is |
| there might even be a system to remove storm water | | | | standing water, but nowhere to drain it to, is to install a |
| nearby. In many new home developments I've seen | | | | French drain system that actually carries the water |
| stormwater catch basins already installed in backyards. | | | | away from the low area, and allows it to seep into the |
| Trust me, this is a good thing. There is nothing worse | | | | ground over a larger distance, where the soil is not |
| than having a soggy yard all the time. | | | | quite so compacted. To install this French drain system |
| | | | you do everything exactly as explained above, except |
| If you are fortunate to have some fall to your yard, or | | | | instead of draining the water to a lower area, you can |
| a stormwater system that you can drain water into, | | | | send it in any direction you like. Even in the direction |
| this problem is easy to solve. Make sure you check | | | | from which it came, which is uphill. |
| with your local officials before you do anything at all | | | | |
| with a storm drain. | | | | When installing this type of system, it's a good idea to |
| All you have to do is go to your local building supply | | | | dig a number of shorter trenches, all heading away |
| center and buy some 4" perforated plastic drain pipe. | | | | from the area where the water stands. Using the line |
| The best kind for this purpose is the flexible kind that | | | | level, make sure your trenches fall away from their |
| comes in 100' rolls. This type of drain pipe has small | | | | point of origin so once the water enters the pipes it will |
| slits all around the pipe. These slits allow water to enter | | | | flow away from the wet spot. What is going to |
| the pipe so it can be carried away. | | | | happen is that during times of heavy rain the low area |
| | | | is still going to trap water, but much of that water is |
| Just dig a trench from the center of the low area you | | | | going to seep into the drain pipes and eventually leach |
| are trying to drain, to the point that you intend to drain it | | | | into the soil under each trench. |
| to. Using a simple line level you can set up a string | | | | |
| over top of the trench to make sure that your pipe | | | | Because this soil has not been compacted by the |
| runs downhill all the way. A line level is a very small | | | | standing water and the baking sun, it will accept the |
| level that is designed to attach to a string. Any | | | | water. It won't happen nearly as fast as if you could |
| hardware stores sells them for just a couple of dollars. | | | | just drain the water to a ditch, but at least you will |
| Set the string up so it is level, then measure from the | | | | have a mechanism in place that will eventually disperse |
| string to the bottom of your trench to make sure you | | | | the water back into the soil. It's a lot easier to leach |
| have constant fall. You should have 6" fall for every | | | | 200 gallons of water into a series of trenches that |
| 100' of pipe. | | | | total 100 lineal feet, than it is to expect that water to |
| | | | leach into a 10' by 10' area that is hard and compact. |
| The highest point is going to be the area that you are | | | | |