A ditch under the house (not mine) gets a small amount of water in it
every time it rains. I want to put a 40mm plastic drain pipe in the
ditch to drain the water. The ditch slopes slightly downhill, and into
the basement where the water collects.
I want to stop the water going past the end of the pipe, and to stop
earth getting into the pipe.
Any ideas? Perhaps I could poke the pipe through a hole in some kind
of membrane.

On 20 Aug, 05:37, Matty F wrote:
A ditch under the house (not mine) gets a small amount of water in it
every time it rains. I want to put a 40mm plastic drain pipe in the
ditch to drain the water. The ditch slopes slightly downhill, and into
the basement where the water collects.
I want to stop the water going past the end of the pipe, and to stop
earth getting into the pipe.
Any ideas? Perhaps I could poke the pipe through a hole in some kind
of membrane.

This might sound pedantic but having suffered through the devastation
of the 2007 floods and the ensuing investigations as to why our
village suffered so badly it emerged that a few thoughtless
individuals had unlawfully piped various dykes. Such activity is
controlled under the 1936 public health act and the 1994 land drainage
acts. Any such works should only be done after the permission of the
local drainage authority has been granted. Note that design figures
for flow may be required although if there is an upstream culvert
nearby the usual simple requirement is for your pipe to be at least as
big as this.
In our case one clown put in two parallel 12" pipes despite there
being a 36" pipe council culvert upstream. Go do the maths!
Note also this also applies to private dykes running across private
land.

On 20 Aug, 10:41, cynic wrote:
On 20 Aug, 05:37, Matty F wrote:

A ditch under the house (not mine) gets a small amount of water in it
every time it rains. I want to put a 40mm plastic drain pipe in the
ditch to drain the water. The ditch slopes slightly downhill, and into
the basement where the water collects.
I want to stop the water going past the end of the pipe, and to stop
earth getting into the pipe.
Any ideas? Perhaps I could poke the pipe through a hole in some kind
of membrane.

This might sound pedantic but having suffered through the devastation
of the 2007 floods and the ensuing investigations as to why our
village suffered so badly it emerged that a few thoughtless
individuals had unlawfully piped various dykes. Such activity is
controlled under the 1936 public health act and the 1994 land drainage
acts. Any such works should only be done after the permission of the
local drainage authority has been granted. Note that design figures
for flow may be required although if there is an upstream culvert
nearby the usual simple requirement is for your pipe to be at least as
big as this.
In our case one clown put in two parallel 12" pipes despite there
being a 36" pipe council culvert upstream. Go do the maths!
Note also this also applies to private dykes running across private
land.

PSST think he's in NZ....

On Aug 20, 9:41 pm, cynic wrote:

This might sound pedantic but having suffered through the devastation
of the 2007 floods and the ensuing investigations as to why our
village suffered so badly it emerged that a few thoughtless
individuals had unlawfully piped various dykes. Such activity is
controlled under the 1936 public health act and the 1994 land drainage
acts. Any such works should only be done after the permission of the
local drainage authority has been granted. Note that design figures
for flow may be required although if there is an upstream culvert
nearby the usual simple requirement is for your pipe to be at least as
big as this.
In our case one clown put in two parallel 12" pipes despite there
being a 36" pipe council culvert upstream. Go do the maths!
Note also this also applies to private dykes running across private
land.

This is a tiny but annoying amount of water.
The total catchment area is a lawn. The utility company has drilled a
hole under the lawn and under the foundations of the house and put
wires through the hole. Water now trickles from the lawn to the hole
and under the house into a trench that used to be dry.
I estimate that if it rains heavily there will be a maximum of 10
litres of water per minute coming down the trench. In practice the
amount of water looks like that out of a slow running tap.
I propose putting a 40 mm diameter pipe in the trench and piping it
outside to the lower side of the house.
I want the water to go down the pipe and stop going down the trench,
so I need to block the trench somehow. Perhaps concrete would do.
It's winter here so the trench is always wet and concrete may not set
well.

On 20 Aug, 11:21, Matty F wrote:
On Aug 20, 9:41 pm, cynic wrote:

This might sound pedantic but having suffered through the devastation
of the 2007 floods and the ensuing investigations as to why our
village suffered so badly it emerged that a few thoughtless
individuals had unlawfully piped various dykes. Such activity is
controlled under the 1936 public health act and the 1994 land drainage
acts. Any such works should only be done after the permission of the
local drainage authority has been granted. Note that design figures
for flow may be required although if there is an upstream culvert
nearby the usual simple requirement is for your pipe to be at least as
big as this.
In our case one clown put in two parallel 12" pipes despite there
being a 36" pipe council culvert upstream. Go do the maths!
Note also this also applies to private dykes running across private
land.

This is a tiny but annoying amount of water.
The total catchment area is a lawn. The utility company has drilled a
hole under the lawn and under the foundations of the house and put
wires through the hole. Water now trickles from the lawn to the hole
and under the house into a trench that used to be dry.
I estimate that if it rains heavily there will be a maximum of 10
litres of water per minute coming down the trench. In practice the
amount of water looks like that out of a slow running tap.
I propose putting a 40 mm diameter pipe in the trench and piping it
outside to the lower side of the house.
I want the water to go down the pipe and stop going down the trench,
so I need to block the trench somehow. Perhaps concrete would do.
It's winter here so the trench is always wet and concrete may not set
well.

oh concrete will set, just keeping it where you want it whilst it does
if raining/water flowing at time - Bin liner - i.e. effectively make
"a bag of concrete"? will mould to contours around pipe and sides of
ditch and not get washed out whilst setting....

perforate the pipe with angle grinder for first couple if yards, lay
pipe on and surround with clean crushed rock, all sat on & wrapped
around in geotextile (to stop silts bunging up holes in pipe)?

Hard to visualise what you are up against ;)

Cheers
Jim K

On Fri, 20 Aug 2010 03:37:13 -0700, Jim K wrote:
oh concrete will set, just keeping it where you want it whilst it does
if raining/water flowing at time - Bin liner - i.e. effectively make "a
bag of concrete"? will mould to contours around pipe and sides of ditch
and not get washed out whilst setting....

I think you only need it to be rain-free for 24 hours or so; I just did
some concrete work around our wood chute and it was solid when I took the
forms off in less time than that. Of course it'll take much longer to
fully cure, but I think it'll do so eventually - the critical bit's just
not having it completely saturated by water during that first phase.

cheers

Jules

On 20 Aug, 13:46, Jules Richardson
wrote:
On Fri, 20 Aug 2010 03:37:13 -0700, Jim K wrote:
oh concrete will set, just keeping it where you want it whilst it does
if raining/water flowing at time - Bin liner - i.e. effectively make "a
bag of concrete"? will mould to contours around pipe and sides of ditch
and not get washed out whilst setting....

I think you only need it to be rain-free for 24 hours or so; I just did
some concrete work around our wood chute and it was solid when I took the
forms off in less time than that. Of course it'll take much longer to
fully cure, but I think it'll do so eventually - the critical bit's just
not having it completely saturated by water during that first phase.

Agreed.

Jim K

On Aug 20, 10:37 pm, Jim K wrote:

oh concrete will set, just keeping it where you want it whilst it does
if raining/water flowing at time - Bin liner - i.e. effectively make
"a bag of concrete"? will mould to contours around pipe and sides of
ditch and not get washed out whilst setting....

perforate the pipe with angle grinder for first couple if yards, lay
pipe on and surround with clean crushed rock, all sat on & wrapped
around in geotextile (to stop silts bunging up holes in pipe)?

That sounds like the plan thanks.
With the geotextile over the top I can cover the whole trench with
soil.
I never liked the idea of an open wet patch under the house.

On 20 Aug, 14:03, Matty F wrote:
On Aug 20, 10:37 pm, Jim K wrote:

oh concrete will set, just keeping it where you want it whilst it does
if raining/water flowing at time - Bin liner - i.e. effectively make
"a bag of concrete"? will mould to contours around pipe and sides of
ditch and not get washed out whilst setting....

perforate the pipe with angle grinder for first couple if yards, lay
pipe on and surround with clean crushed rock, all sat on & wrapped
around in geotextile (to stop silts bunging up holes in pipe)?

That sounds like the plan thanks.
With the geotextile over the top I can cover the whole trench with
soil.

aye a "land drain" in effect...make sure the geotextile (I've used
black woven "weed control" stuff successfully) goes all around rather
than just on top,else it will probly bung up quicker, pipe in lower
half of rock.

Be careful too make your "collection zone" low enough for the slit
pipe to function as you wnat it to - i.e. so there is no other "way
out" for the water except your pipe...not through the stone layer
underneath the pipe for example. Your concrete "dam" should do the job
- placed around the pipe in the ditch "holding back" the crushed rock
wrapped in geotextile....


ASCII art section - viewed best in non-proportional font

////////
////////
=========
=rrrrrrr=
=rrrrrrr=
=rr(P)rr=
=rrrrrrr=
=========
SSSSSSSSS
SSSSSSSSS


//// soil
===== geotextile
rrrr clean crushed rock
P pipe
SSSSS - subsoil (whatever's under the ditch)

another - at 90degrees
///////////////
///////////////
=========CCCCCCC
=rrrrrrr=CCCCCCC
=rrrrrrr=CCCCCCC
ddd=rrrPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
SSS=rrrrrrr=CCCCCCC
SSS=========CCCCCCC
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS


CCCC concrete
ddd bottom of ditch


Cheers
Jim K

On Aug 20, 10:37 pm, Jim K wrote:

Hard to visualise what you are up against ;)

Well I've basically finished the job.
Here's the ditch with the wires coming out of it:
http://i38.tinypic.com/igc3u0.jpg

I've dug a trench down a foot below the wiring and put a 40mm pipe in
the trench. I put a synthetic sack over the end of the pipe and
blocked the downhill side of the trench with clay.
Next time it rains we'll see if it works. I don't see why it wouldn't.
If it's OK I'll put some weed mat around the pipe and cover it with
clay.
I may decide to dig the trench deeper if necessary. I checked the
levels with a laser, and there's a 6 inch drop over 10 feet of pipe.