Stormwater Problems - Where to Drain It To?

onetwothreefour on 17/03/2017 - 20:20
Last edited 18/03/2017 - 11:09 by 1 other user

Hi All,

I'm hoping to get some advice from any plumbers/home owners about some drainage issues I'm having with all this heavy rain we've had recently.

Every time we get some heavy rain our garden gets big puddles of water in the middle. We've tried putting in some french drains but we don't really have anywhere to run the water to - other than pointing it at my neighbours place. We do have a stormwater pipe that runs to the street and we did connect the french drain to that but as we are quite low compared to the street it didn't seem to cope with the extra water being put into it.

We've contacted the council who have said there is no council drainage pipes on our property and that we should use a plumber to help us but we'd rather not spend too much money. We don't mind doing the work ourselves, we're just not sure what to do.

Does anyone have any advice?

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  supnigs super skids on 17/03/2017 - 20:36

  +1

  add more soil such that it is higher than the neighbours and then its their problem

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    onetwothreefour on 17/03/2017 - 20:39

    Ha! we are on a slope so we are higher than them. We have a retaining wall by the fence between myself and the neighbours, this is where a lot of the puddles are. The only place we can drain this water is at one end of the wall and point the pipe at my neighbours fence.

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      thatonethere on 17/03/2017 - 21:04

      Depending on where you are you need to read up on storm water. In some areas as long as the water is naturally following the contours and not over a hard surface eg concrete it is ok.

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  jason101 on 17/03/2017 - 21:16

  Our last home was built into a tub (the house pad and garden was lower than all the surrounding neighbours and about level with the street so water would not run from our block to the street) - a stormwater system draining to a central pit with an auto pump in it was a costly but effective solution.

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  Adz81 on 17/03/2017 - 21:48

  How often does is it a happen?
  Cost vs Benefit, does it happen often enough to be a problem or cause damage?
  Is this an instance where the "she'll be right" approach could?

  • 

    onetwothreefour on 17/03/2017 - 22:03

    How often does it rain?

    It's rained here nearly every day for the past 2 weeks and they are forecasting rain for the next week.

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  DarkOz on 18/03/2017 - 07:48

  Stormwater will always run to the lowest point until it reaches the river or beach. Your problem is between your garden, your neighbours garden and the council stormwater drain.

  There are 3 solutions.
  1. Pump it out but that's not viable for individual households. Mostly suitable for bigger buildings.
  2. Top up the low area so that the stormwater will run off to your neighbour with lower ground.
  3. Talk to your neighbour to see if they have stormwater problems too. Maybe they need french drains as well and you could connect your french drains to theirs. At worst pay your neighbour to install french drains to connect yours.

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  chumbucket on 18/03/2017 - 08:55

  Make a garden pond and buy some Koi?

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    onetwothreefour on 18/03/2017 - 09:55

    Or a swimming pool?

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  FirstNameLastName on 18/03/2017 - 19:33

  may be a reason why stormwater pipe wasn't effective.. could have lost it's grade due to soil movement or improper laying.. or been effected by roots or something. could be a 90mm and upgrading to 100mm may help.. or laying dual 100s in could be overkill.

  could talk to lower neighbours, ask if they have a drainage system/pipe that could take the runoff from drain.

  could ask for advice at renovateforum.com

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    onetwothreefour on 18/03/2017 - 20:34

    We had the stormwater pipe replaced last year, it's a 100mm. It helped with the gutters but it wouldn't be able to take any extra water as it's low in our place compared to where it comes out on the street.

    Our neighbours below have some sort of manhole cover that we are hoping is a stormwater pit and also hoping they'll let us tap into it.

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      FirstNameLastName on 18/03/2017 - 20:41

      i suppose you checked plans to see if there is a provision/easement to allow you to dump water to that potential drain.

      i know a bloke who had some easement put on neighbouring property to allow a storm water drain put along their fence to basically dump his water on another street.

      that was a long time ago tho.. i'm out of my depth here and into the anecdotal.

      as for the water exiting on the street.. doubtful, but perhaps angling the pipe to run with the water flow may help it merge more easily.. or putting a sandbag just up from the exit point, to give your water right-of-way.. may help in the meantime.

      good luck

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        onetwothreefour on 18/03/2017 - 20:45

        +1

        Thanks, I spoke to the council yesterday and actually last year and both times I was told there is no council drainage on my property or inter-allotment drainage and I would need to get a plumber in to help me out. Good to see my council tax rates are going to good use!!

        We'll speak to the neighbour and see what he knows, I guess he won't have much choice as it will be let us tap into your drainage or accept that a lot of water will run off of our place on to his.

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  iforgotmysocks on 19/03/2017 - 01:42

  -1

  Send it downhill, it is God's problem after it's off your property.

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    onetwothreefour on 19/03/2017 - 07:29

    I dont mind doing this but i can only send it to one place, i wouldnt be happy if i found out my other neighbour was pointing a stornwater pipe at my place.

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  FirstNameLastName on 19/03/2017 - 09:56

  Had massive rain in south Brisbane last night. A years worth surely.

  One of my French drains didn't operate.. The others worked very well.

  123, what design did you use for yours? Anyone else too if you have had success.

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    onetwothreefour on 19/03/2017 - 11:35

    We dug a trench, lined it with 20mm gravel, put in ag pipe then covered it with more gravel then back filled with soil.

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  Euphemistic on 19/03/2017 - 21:23

  You could try putting a big rubble/gravel pit under where the puddles are, or somewhere you can drain the puddles to. It is a way of storing more water and allowing it to slowly drain away, rather than trying to get it to a council storm water drain. It something that has been used where the lowest point in your yard is a back corner.

  I'm pretty sure You are not supposed to drain any water towards a neighbouring property without a drainage easement of some sort. Water running over ground is a little different, eg over lawn. So for example, you can't cut your down pipes off and run them over your lawn and so into the neighbours.

  It does depend on how often it occurs as to how much money you want to throw at it. Our old house used to pool at the front path. It was worth adding some more soil to bring the level up and push the water elsewhere then also install a drain pit and ag pipe to get the water away from where it was directed. It went into a stormwater drain though and didn't have any trouble getting it to the kerb.