Why is Rain and Stormwater Management Important?
Are you sick and tired of water pooling in the yard and causing constant bug problems? Mud and sludge being tracked everywhere when you go inside? Dampness and mold in your basement? This article explains how simple stormwater management can prevent all of these problems from happening.
What is Stormwater?
Any form of precipitation falling from the sky including sleet, rain, or snow is classified as stormwater and needs to be directly managed through stormwater management. As buildings, roadways and parking lots are developed, the velocity and volume of natural run offs are altered increased. Getting rainwater off you property is important to enjoy and protect your home or business. For many businesses, homeowners, and builders, property flooding can turn in a serious issue. A strong runoff of rainwater will quickly erode the soil between the foundation, destroying the property and the integrity of your building. Especially in areas with higher than normal precipitation levels, an effective stormwater management system is imperative for not only your health and safety but the environments as well. Roofing specialists will evaluate stormwater because it is important to keep water off buildings, but also necessary to get water away from buildings and off a property.
Different Rain and Stormwater Management Options
Stormwater management solutions come in many shapes and forms. An example of which can include anything from gutters and downspouts installation, landscape slope and carefully designed drains or any other mechanism used to move water away from a structure and off of valuable property.
What is a French Drain?
A french drain is a very easy and affordable method of diverting water from an area that can flood and cause serious damage to a property. French drains are lined with a trench composed of rock or gravel that redirects surface and ground water away from a specific area. The pipes used in a french drain are usually made from PVC. These perforated hollow pipes along the bottom will rapidly expel water that leaches through the gravel. At the top of the pipe, a filtration fabric is placed to keep debris away from clogging up. French drains are installed with a slope to help with drainage. This drainage design works along with the laws of gravity to carry water from a high elevation to a lower elevation.
When to Use French Drains
French Drains prevents ground and surface water from seeping into the foundation of a building. These drains are commonly used to eliminate excess water from low areas, or areas that are extremely wet. These types of areas are often located in your backyard, the foot of a slope, or in a place where there is too much run off going to a specific area. Take a garden for example, this drain will redirect run-off groundwater to a garden irrigation system instead of where it would have gone without the french drain, the foundation of your home.
What is a Dry Well?
A dry well is an underground structure that directs and disposes of unwanted water whether it be stormwater and surface run-offs or in some cases maybe grey water. This underground structure is chambered with a porous style wall that allows water to soak slowly ( but efficiently ), dissipating into the groundwater. With being a passive structure, water flows into it through the influence of gravity. Dry wells will receive water from either one or multiple entry pipes at its top. Then discharges the same water throughout a number of exit points that’s distributed from either the bottom or sides over a larger surface area.
When a Dry Well Should be Used?
Picture a paved parking lot. Before that parking lot was there, rainfall and precipitation soaked evenly throughout that soil. Now when it rains, that water is no longer able to drain. Instead it now races to the lowest point in that parking lot. As time progresses water pools and will form if the correct provisions were not made to control that excess water, it will overcome the curb and start destroying the soil beyond. The same principle is applied to your backyard, rain runs off the roof, drains into the gutters, then proceeds out the downspouts to wherever it wants.This is when dry wells come into play. A proper installation uses the force of gravity to divert water towards the lowest point in the yard, where your dry well has been installed. Now, runoff water has a place to pool and collect until it dissipates into the soil, instead of building up in depressed areas across the yard.
What are Sump Pumps and Drain Tiles?
Sump Pumps and Drain tiles work hand and hand as the last line of defensive to water infiltrating your basement and crawl spaces.In reality, drain tiles aren’t physical tiles at all, but rather a system of porous PVC pipes that are laid out beneath the ground and around the foundation of your home. It will collect all the water before it has a chance to enter the basement or crawl space. You can either have it designed to direct the water downhill away from you home or direct it into a pit where an electric sump pump can pump it out and away from your home as well.
When to Use Drain Tiles?
Installing a drain tile system ensures that groundwater doesn’t penetrate the basement or foundation but instead it is directed away before it can even enter. While a few homes may never require the need for this stormwater management system, many homes suffer from not having it. Heavy rain and rapid melting of snow will cause catastrophic issues if it makes its way into your home. Black mold can form and grow throughout your home causing you to spend thousands of dollars to remove and even cause serious health issues.