Underground spring water mamagement?

[diggity dave]

Hello all, total newbie here, but you guys seem very knowledgeable!
I live in a terraced house half way up a steep hill. My garage is to the rear of my back yard & faces onto the service road (back alley).
My problem is that during heavy rain, water enters my garage through the party wall with my neighbours garage (bear in mind my garage floor is 1 metre lower than my neighbours).
The service road has a patched tarmac repair about 15 metres up the hill from my house. In heavy rain, water also emerges from the seam of patch repair. Fellow residents advise me this is from a underground spring.
I am assuming that the two symptoms are related to one cause - the underground spring.
As the spring water partially exits the ground in the service road, would the water board or council have any duty to manage the spring water?
I'm hoping that perhaps something could be done in the road, as trying to to tank an existing brick garage with a shared wall sounds like a nightmare & costly solution.
Thanks for any opinons or suggestions

[diggity dave]

Wow - 129 views & no replies - must be a tough one! Anyone care to chime in? Thanks :O

[GB_Groundworks]

It's a tough one sorting out who manages what when it comes to aquifers etc or springs, everyone will deny it's to do with them. I'd perceiver and speak to everyone, highways, council local water board will be your best bet.

If you could maybe install a linear drain against the neighbours wall in garage as like you say it's almost impossible to successfully internally tank a existing structure 100% there are paint on products but I'm dubious then there's tanking membranes etc but I'd spend a few hours on the phone/Internet first trying to get it investigated.

[lutonlagerlout]

maybe speak to your local environmental health officer
none of us are bureaucratically minded here,and as giles said no one will want to take responsibility for this one

LLL

[diggity dave]

Thanks for your replies. I guessed this would end up in a finger pointing exercise & wondered if anyone had any experience. I like the idea of an internal linear drain - doesnt solve the problem but certainly deals effectively with the symptom! OK heres the next question - the councils hand over responsibility for lateral drains (ie my service road) to the water boards from 01 October. Is it worth asking the council to get involved now as they are still a stake holder, or wait till october when it becomes the water boards problem?

[lutonlagerlout]

dave speak to your enviromental health officer ASAP
the water board will want money to sort it for sure
LLL

[diggity dave]

Thanks for that tip! I called the Environmental Health who came out to have a look. They refused to survey the drains for damage & advised its due to high water table - which isnt their responsibility. They mentioned a house down my street which uses a tank & pump to deal with the water in his basement! I guess an internal linear drain is the most straight forward solution to my problem.

[flowjoe]

If you can prove a connection between the water in the alley and the water in your garage you may have a case as a riparian issue, the problem is the cost of proving who is responsible could outweigh a simple solution.

[diggity dave]

Totally agree flowjoe. Ok another daft newbie questions here.
How does the water table work on a hill? As I live half way up a steep hill, if the water table is so high its in my garage, then does that mean that my house founds are under water & anyone living several meters below me down the hill should be living under a lake? Basically are the council bull shitting me about the water table?

[GB_Groundworks]

i like to know this as well as i live on a big hill and thinking of digging out basement to make a play room but my mate on next rd albeit lower did it and has 6 inches of water on this newly tilled floor in heavy rain, he has a sump and pump unit.

ill do some research later when little uns in bed

[diggity dave]

To try & close off this topic, I found this schematic (scroll down) which shows the water table on a hill

http://www.vulcanwaterproofing.com/high_water_table.htm

I also found a lot of sites which advise that the water table will totally depend upon your local geology, which could vary house by house on your street, so I'm not really any further with my dilemma.

One final question from me, if I continue to let my garage walls act as a drain point during rainfall, will the constant wet/dry cycles create long term damage to the founds or brickwork?

[lutonlagerlout]

it definitely wont do it any good dave
better to have water diverted
LLL