Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 8:44 pm
I have a real pain of a drainage problem. Here are some of the details.
I live in a wetlands area that has a fairly high water table, although around the house it is not swampy. When they built the house, they raised the land around it so it slopes away on all sides.
I also live in the country and there are no sewers that I can connect to. I have 3.5 acres of property, so lots of room.
I currently have weeper tile along my basement footing that drains into a sump pump inside the house. Because it's spring time, the sump pump activates every 10-15 minutes because of the high water table. In the dead of summer, the water stops flowing into the sump well.
Actually, I could run the sump pump 24 hours a day and the water would continuously run into the sump well. The water draining into the sump well is laden with iron deposits. It's actually incredible the amount of iron sludge that builds up on the pump. The sludge is so bad that at one point the pump drainage pipe got clogged with it.
Anyway, the land around the house is sandy for the most part.
I have a little creek that runs the length of my property but the creek is not low enough for my drainage pipe to sit above it. If I were to run a drainage pipe to it, the pipe would be submersed in the creek itself. One contractor I spoke with told me that I could position the pipe in the direction of the water flow and the movement of the water would actually create a vacuum and suck the water out. Does anyone know if this is true? The creek runs steadily but the current is not very strong.
I was considering installing a large well outside the house that I could drain my weeper tile to, and then putting in a large pump that would drain it to the creek (essentially an external sump pump) but that wouldn't really solve anything except to create another back-up system.
I am not sure whether a soakaway or french drain would work given the high water table.
Any ideas or suggestions? I am also looking to speak with an engineer about it, any suggestions on which would be the best type?
Thanks so much in advance!
I live in a wetlands area that has a fairly high water table, although around the house it is not swampy. When they built the house, they raised the land around it so it slopes away on all sides.
I also live in the country and there are no sewers that I can connect to. I have 3.5 acres of property, so lots of room.
I currently have weeper tile along my basement footing that drains into a sump pump inside the house. Because it's spring time, the sump pump activates every 10-15 minutes because of the high water table. In the dead of summer, the water stops flowing into the sump well.
Actually, I could run the sump pump 24 hours a day and the water would continuously run into the sump well. The water draining into the sump well is laden with iron deposits. It's actually incredible the amount of iron sludge that builds up on the pump. The sludge is so bad that at one point the pump drainage pipe got clogged with it.
Anyway, the land around the house is sandy for the most part.
I have a little creek that runs the length of my property but the creek is not low enough for my drainage pipe to sit above it. If I were to run a drainage pipe to it, the pipe would be submersed in the creek itself. One contractor I spoke with told me that I could position the pipe in the direction of the water flow and the movement of the water would actually create a vacuum and suck the water out. Does anyone know if this is true? The creek runs steadily but the current is not very strong.
I was considering installing a large well outside the house that I could drain my weeper tile to, and then putting in a large pump that would drain it to the creek (essentially an external sump pump) but that wouldn't really solve anything except to create another back-up system.
I am not sure whether a soakaway or french drain would work given the high water table.
Any ideas or suggestions? I am also looking to speak with an engineer about it, any suggestions on which would be the best type?
Thanks so much in advance!