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I'll let the photo do the talking...

martin_hardingmartin_harding Posts: 26
in Problem solving


Need I say more...?

Seriously, though - does anyone have any ideas as to a practical drainage solution that can carry surface water out of my garden so I don't wake up to this again?  Any companies or people who can figure out how to install drainage that can carry water up a slope and away, since the garden slopes away from the house, both neighbours have gardens built up above ours and are likely sending water our way.
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  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576

    I'm no expert but I would think the water will always find the lowest point, so that's where you would need to install drains.  Maybe something that could channel water to where your guttering drains to?

    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited March 2019
    But where are the drains going to lead to?  In most places you can’t pipe surface water into the main drains so .... ? 🤷‍♀️ 

    Neighbours to to the left look like the pitch will be unplayable this weekend 🥅 ⚽️ 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • martin_hardingmartin_harding Posts: 26
    Mmm, that's an idea - I'm just wary of legal issues regarding surface water drainage, so if I can avoid connecting to any existing drain in a way that won't break the bank (or the laws of physics) I'll grab it with both hands
  • martin_hardingmartin_harding Posts: 26
    Dovefromabove said:
    But where are the drains going to lead to?  In most places you can’t pipe surface water into the main drains so .... ? 🤷‍♀️ 

    Neighbours to to the left look like the pitch will be unplayable this weekend 🥅 ⚽️ 
    Surface water has to drain to either a combined sewer or to the road - that's what I'm doing as I type, pumping the accumulated water through a 1" diameter hose to the road drains...
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576

    @Dovefromabove, I didn't know that!  Not sure what's the difference between rain that falls on the roof and rain that falls on the ground, particularly if it's hard landscaping.

    Houses round here that have gardens sloping down towards the house have a line of grating set in the ground at the lowest point for the rainwater to drain away, but I don't know where it goes to.

    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • martin_hardingmartin_harding Posts: 26
    It wasn't a problem in times yonder - there was a gully that ran the length of the houses on my street which carried excess surface water away by way of a stream that ran through it ... until some fool concreted over it and didn't install a culvert to maintain the flow - even when the council apparently offered to do it for free...
  • Hampshire_HogHampshire_Hog Posts: 1,089
    edited March 2019
    If you are at the lowest point then a good sump or underground tank in the centre lowest point.

    If you go for a tank the water can be stored and re used/ pumped back in the summer for watering, if you go for a drainage sump then a deep excavation lots of rubble or stone gabion's both expensive :/

    If it's a not to regular and you have a drain close you could dig a smaller sump and use a submersible pump to pump the water to the drain cheaper option.

    As for legal it is just watch any flooding on TV the water is pumped out and into the main drainage system it is however now against building regulations to install guttering into a main drain.

    "You don't stop gardening because you get old, you get old because you stop gardening." - The Hampshire Hog
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    martin_harding said:
    Dovefromabove said:
    But where are the drains going to lead to?  In most places you can’t pipe surface water into the main drains so .... ? 🤷‍♀️ 

    Neighbours to to the left look like the pitch will be unplayable this weekend 🥅 ⚽️ 
    Surface water has to drain to either a combined sewer or to the road - that's what I'm doing as I type, pumping the accumulated water through a 1" diameter hose to the road drains...
    Depends where you are. I'm not 100% on English Regs but in Wales no surface water should go to any mains drainage until other sustainable options have been fully explored. The laws and regs concerning surface water disposal here have just been made a whole lot stricter too.


    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    edited March 2019
    wild edges said:
    Depends where you are. I'm not 100% on English Regs but in Wales no surface water should go to any mains drainage until other sustainable options have been fully explored. The laws and regs concerning surface water disposal here have just been made a whole lot stricter too.

    It's the same in England. You are not allowed to put any rainwater into a sewer without the express permission of the water authority and they generally won't let you do that unless you have made some effort to mitigate storm water run off (in towns) or at all in areas where there are no combined sewers (more rural areas).
    Road drains are surface water drains which may or may not connect to the sewers - in the OPs case it sounds as though the surface water doesn't go into the sewers.

    Your options are; a bigger soakaway, using rain crates or the like (i.e. digging a big hole); applying to the local water authority for a permanent discharge into the local surface water drain (i.e. formalising your current temporary arrangement using a sump, a pump and some buried pipework); raising the level of your garden above your neighbours' (i.e. starting a war).

    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Is there anything that can be done to get the gully reinstated? Maybe if all the affected neighbours got together, you could persuade the culprit to do something about it? 
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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