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Simple, low-cost method for rural drainage?

Jeremy Kohlitz
KnowledgePointAdmin
RedR CCDRR

In the past, I worked with a rural village that had some problems with low-levels of flooding when heavy rains came. Nothing too serious, but water would get in the houses and cause property damage and possibly pose a health risk. I believe the village was built in an area prone to flooding, but conditions were made worse by building of homes and a huge church that inhibited some of the natural surface water flow and caused water to pool up easily in some places.

Are there any relatively simple solutions to keep water from pooling on the surface? I was thinking about digging pits and filling them with gravel or stones where water tends to pool to speed up infiltration into the soil, but no idea if that would actually help.


3 Answers

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JohnCosgrave
RedR

Whether vertical drains work on not depends on the soil, and how the soil changes with depth. It is impossible to predict in advance how well vertical drains would work. How long does it take the water to drain away after rain?

Even if the soil is the same at depth, you should see some small improvement because of the increased surface area for water to flow into the soil.

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Thanks for your response John. The water does some to drain away fairly quickly after the rain stops (depends on the conditions thereafter and how much water pooled in the first place but it doesn't seem to stay for days and days). Will have to see what experience the community has had digging into the soil.

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If the entire Town is a Hazard Flood Zone, ALL residents should be aware of formations concerning flood prevention, protection, and mitigation There are several different ways to protect a towns from flood damage. One way is to keep the water away by re-grading your lot or building a small flood wall or earthen berm. These methods might work if your lot is large enough or if flooding is not too deep.