The Brew Cabin

:) I have a spring in the garden which is waterlogging what used to be my grass. I want to channel it to make a stream further down the garden. I intend to lay a perforated pipe in 20mm shingle encased in Terram to take the water to the head of the stream. At the end of the stream I will make a catch pit and then lay an overflow pipe to take excess water on to another drainage ditch at the bottom of the garden.

question 1: What is the best way of channelling the water from the spring into the pipe - should I dig a pit at the site of the spring?
>question 2: If I use perforated pipe will I lose as much water as I collect on the way down to the stream?

This is a fantastic web site site Tony!

1 - depends on the nature and situation of the spring. A small pit just below the level of the spring would be one way, or you could simply sink in a hopper and rest bend and connect that to the pipe that delivers the water to the head of your planned stream.

2 - Using a perforated pipe depends on the nature of the ground (how porous and thirsty it is) and the amount of water emanating from the spring. If you think you might lose a significant volume of water between the spring and the stream head, then use a solid pipe rather than a perforated one.

I'm glad you like the web site. :)

I have tried to dig below the site of the spring but it's coming up from the ground and as fast as I dig it fills with water so I'll call it a day and fill it with shingle now and lay my pipe into the middle of the pit.
At present the water from the spring drains haphazardly across my garden as well as down an open ditch towards an area which I have planted with bog loving plants. I really want to preserve this boggy area and I am concerned that by diverting the spring water to my stream I may cause the bog to dry out.
I had thought of putting a Y joint in the pipe that I'm planning to lay and putting a cap on the section of pipe that leads to the boggy area so that I can open it now and then to allow water to drain back into the bog. (I would, I suppose, also have to cap the section that runs to the stream head when I open the bog section).
Are there any mechanisms like sluices or such that I could install so that I haven't got to go groping into the trench to remove or replace the cap?

The 'sluice' is usually known as a "Penstock" and, while they are available, they aren't cheap and they're a bugger to install. The usual method would be to construct a chamber into which would come the water from the spring. There would be two outlets - one for normal use, ie, down your stream, and the second would lead to the bog garden. When you deemed it necessary, you could open the penstock (they are winding vertical mechanism) and allow some of the water to flow to the bog garden for half a day or so, then shut it again as required.

Seems like a lot of work, to me, but, that's the only 'cleans hands' solution I can think of. Much simpler, and much cheaper, would be to install a Y-junction (we call them 'Oblique' or 'Square') and run a pipe to emerge just above the bog garden. Put a bung/stopper in the end of the pipe (these stoppers are less than a fiver) and just release it as required. If you look at the construction of a typical stopper on the Testing Drainage page, you can see that there is a simple screw cap that cane be undone to allow water to escape, and this would be easier than releasing the entire stopper.

Of course, this second solution relies on you having adequate falls to allow the bog-feed pipe to emerge above ground level abov ethe bog garden, or, for there to be a sufficient 'head' of water to feed it via gravity.