I have a 3" drain on my driveway next to the house which takes rainwater and
puts it back into the city's sewer system. During stormy weather the drain
has a tendency to slow down or stop because of bits of twigs, leaves and
other debris start to accumulate around it. If this happens it's possible
that my garage floor gets flooded because a small lake starts to form around
the drain. I've heard of laundry sink strainers can help. Do they make this
in a 3" size? How else could I fix this problem?

Is it legal to put rainwater into the city sewer system in your area?
In most parts of the country it isn't.

I would assume that he was referring to the "storm sewer
system" rather than the "sanitary sewer system." The
phrase "sewer system" is vague and should be read in context.

FYI, in our city (and many other areas) it was once perfectly
legal and accepted practice to tie basement perimeter drain
systems into the sanitary sewer system. During a heavy Spring
rain, it is often possible to observe a tremendous flow of water
from the perimeter drain system into the basement floor drain
and on to the sanitary sewer.

During some heavy storms I have removed the sewer cleanout
access and estimated the flow of water from my perimeter drains
to be equal to or greater than a garden hose at full blast. I feel
sorry for the folks who are downhill and downstream from us -
those sanitary systems do backup once every 5-10 years during
a Spring storm due to the overload from cross-connections which
are now illegal.

Gideon

===================

wrote
Is it legal to put rainwater into the city sewer system in
your area? In most parts of the country it isn't.

Alan,

This site has some 3 1/8" sink strainers, which could possibly
work for you:

http://www.neatitems.com/strainer.htm

It seems that it should be fairly easy to make your own strainers
if necessary. The moderately open-mess gutter screen material
might be a good item to use, since it is designed for a similar
purpose and intended to block materials which are of similar size
to what you want to block. It should be available at any hardware
type store.

I'd make 4 or 5 strainers, cut to the appropriate size from the
gutter guard material. Then I'd use super-glue gel to bond
several small super-magnets around the perimeter of each screen
to help hold it in place over the (metal) drain in the driveway.

Small used super-magnets are rather inexpensive and available
on the Internet. They are made of Neodymium-Iron-Boron and
are recovered from motors, microwave ovens, disk drives, etc.
The $0.20 magnets (item #10) at this site might work for the idea
I suggested:
http://www.wondermagnets.com

If you feel that the screens won't clog often and don't need to
be removed often, then obviously a more permanent method
of attachment would be preferable to using the magnets.

Good luck,
Gideon

================

Alan Smithee wrote in message ...
I have a 3" drain on my driveway next to the house which takes rainwater and
puts it back into the city's sewer system. During stormy weather the drain
has a tendency to slow down or stop because of bits of twigs, leaves and
other debris start to accumulate around it. If this happens it's possible
that my garage floor gets flooded because a small lake starts to form around
the drain. I've heard of laundry sink strainers can help. Do they make this
in a 3" size? How else could I fix this problem?

i dont see how a strainer will particularly help your situation. seems to
me it will just catch more twigs and leaves and clog faster.

seems better to divert the water someplace else completely if possible.

randy

"Alan Smithee" wrote in message
news:Bnhfe.1273043$Xk.402127@pd7tw3no...
I have a 3" drain on my driveway next to the house which takes rainwater
and
puts it back into the city's sewer system. During stormy weather the drain
has a tendency to slow down or stop because of bits of twigs, leaves and
other debris start to accumulate around it. If this happens it's possible
that my garage floor gets flooded because a small lake starts to form
around
the drain. I've heard of laundry sink strainers can help. Do they make
this
in a 3" size? How else could I fix this problem?

A "laundry" sink strainer is different than a sink strainer. It's vertical
with ribs, plugs into the drain hole. It's designed so that as the water
rises (clogs near the bottom) the water can still pour in...up to the height
of the device. It's so that lint, a common problem in laundry systems, won't
clog the flow. What I have on my driveway now is a flat "manhole" type cover
with .5 inch holes in it. I think after viewing some of the suggestions here
and poking around the internet I know what I need. It's a cap which is round
6" wide and rises about 2-3". It'll give me more surface area. I think it's
a type of floor strainer. Most are plastic, I need a metal one, one strong
enough so that if the car accidentally drives over it it won't be crushed.




xrongor wrote:
i dont see how a strainer will particularly help your situation.
seems to me it will just catch more twigs and leaves and clog faster.

seems better to divert the water someplace else completely if
possible.

randy

"Alan Smithee" wrote in message
news:Bnhfe.1273043$Xk.402127@pd7tw3no...
I have a 3" drain on my driveway next to the house which takes
rainwater and
puts it back into the city's sewer system. During stormy weather the
drain has a tendency to slow down or stop because of bits of twigs,
leaves and other debris start to accumulate around it. If this
happens it's possible that my garage floor gets flooded because a
small lake starts to form around
the drain. I've heard of laundry sink strainers can help. Do they
make this
in a 3" size? How else could I fix this problem?

On Sun, 08 May 2005 13:05:37 GMT, Alan Smithee wrote:
A "laundry" sink strainer is different than a sink strainer. It's vertical
with ribs, plugs into the drain hole. It's designed so that as the water
rises (clogs near the bottom) the water can still pour in...up to the height
of the device. It's so that lint, a common problem in laundry systems, won't
clog the flow. What I have on my driveway now is a flat "manhole" type cover
with .5 inch holes in it. I think after viewing some of the suggestions here
and poking around the internet I know what I need. It's a cap which is round
6" wide and rises about 2-3". It'll give me more surface area. I think it's
a type of floor strainer. Most are plastic, I need a metal one, one strong
enough so that if the car accidentally drives over it it won't be crushed.

I guess others (and me) thought you were talking about a laundry hose
strainer, which is just a metal mesh bag to catch wet lint, instead of
letting it go into the sink.

Not sure what it is called, but you likely want something like the raised
grate used on a roof drain (like for a flat roof). So if the lower part
of the grate clogs and water rises, it can still flow into the grate
higher up or under floating debris, and hopefully would not totally clog.
So you might try a web search for 'roof drain'.

would an atrium drain used in landscaping that rise a few inches upward work
?

MC

"Alan Smithee" wrote in message
news:Bnhfe.1273043$Xk.402127@pd7tw3no...
I have a 3" drain on my driveway next to the house which takes rainwater
and
puts it back into the city's sewer system. During stormy weather the drain
has a tendency to slow down or stop because of bits of twigs, leaves and
other debris start to accumulate around it. If this happens it's possible
that my garage floor gets flooded because a small lake starts to form
around
the drain. I've heard of laundry sink strainers can help. Do they make
this
in a 3" size? How else could I fix this problem?

MC" wrote in message
...
would an atrium drain used in landscaping that rise a few inches upward
work
?
An Atrium Grate (drain) is what they're called. That's very very close to
what I need. I didn't know the name of it. Thanks. My problem stems from the
fact that the current drain only has about 5 holes which plug very quickly
when the conditions are poor. Unfortunately it seems most of the atrium
grates are made of PVC. I need something indestructable cast iron or metal
preferrably. I'm getting closer with this tip though thanks. I'm also
considering putting in a larger square grate similar to what a city might
use on a curb or gutter this would give me the surface area I would need or
time and money though.


MC

"Alan Smithee" wrote in message
news:Bnhfe.1273043$Xk.402127@pd7tw3no...
I have a 3" drain on my driveway next to the house which takes rainwater
and
puts it back into the city's sewer system. During stormy weather the
drain
has a tendency to slow down or stop because of bits of twigs, leaves and
other debris start to accumulate around it. If this happens it's
possible
that my garage floor gets flooded because a small lake starts to form
around
the drain. I've heard of laundry sink strainers can help. Do they make
this
in a 3" size? How else could I fix this problem?