Do-it-yourself site drainage on clay soils. Do-it-yourself site drainage: how to do it Draining water from a house on clay soils

In some places, groundwater comes quite close to the surface of the earth. Another problem can be heavy rainfall and water generated when snow melts. Excess moisture causes the death of agricultural crops and destroys the foundation of houses and household buildings. Creating a drainage system with your own hands will solve the problem. This is a labor-intensive process that involves a significant amount of earthwork.

All work can be in vain if a drainage system is not created on the site in time

It is advisable to engage in the arrangement of drainage at the stage of development of a dacha or garden plot. In this case, it is necessary to collect information about the state of the earth, professional hydrogeological studies and a system design are needed. However, most gardeners bypass this stage and create drainage in their small area on their own, relying on specific situation.

What water should drainage remove?

There are several sources of moisture entering a site, and a different approach is important to eliminating the influence of each of them. They are characterized own characteristics and demand various actions for water drainage.

Groundwater

Such waters have a pronounced seasonal character and appear in the spring. U groundwater there is a source of inflow and an outflow area. They appear more often on sandy soil.

The presence of groundwater can be determined using wells. It is important to note the level of moisture leaked during drilling and compare with the established level later certain time after her appearance.

The drainage system must be installed when the groundwater level is 0.5 m below the foundation. In another situation, there is a threat of gradual destruction of the foundation and an obstacle to the normal development of plants. It is necessary to create a system of channels and drainage pipes, mounted at a depth of 25-35cm. below the height of groundwater. In this option, moisture will be diverted to the lowlands, and waterlogging of the soil will be prevented.

Drilling a monitoring well

Surface water

Clay soils are one of the reasons for excess water in the garden. Such soils are dense and poorly permeable to moisture. After rainy days and melting snow, stagnant water is observed on clay lands. Puddles interfere with normal movement around the site, the soil slips underfoot, and plant roots are deprived of air exchange. When it dries, it becomes covered with a crust that is not easy to loosen and dig up.

Upper level waters

Overwater is water that, after being absorbed by the soil, encounters an obstacle in the form of a viscous layer of clay, which delays further penetration. This situation occurs on soil with highly placed waterproof layers, which usually indicates construction errors. They are evidenced by situations when, as a result of rain, puddles remain on the site and in dug channels for a long time, and after a certain time after completion of construction, moisture appears on the basement walls.

To drain the perched water, you will have to arrange the drainage of the garden plot with your own hands ( optimal solution– system of drainage channels). It will protect the foundation from upper level waters backfilling foundation with clay followed by compaction. Next, a blind area is made, wider than the backfill, and storm drains are drained. During work, it is important to prevent the formation of pockets where water could stagnate.

Device diagram concrete blind area

On sloping section It is advisable to equip terraces and concrete retaining walls, along which it is important to place drainage ditches. In dachas located lower than others, adding soil will allow you to resist water damage, since you can dump wastewater nowhere else. An alternative is to drain the drainage through neighbors’ gardens or along a common road to a reservoir.

Budget options for protection against excess moisture

If it is possible to do without the expensive arrangement of a drainage system, you can try other measures:

organization of the blind area;
organization storm sewer;
construction of upland ditches;
foundation waterproofing.

It makes sense to place the upland ditch on a slope, next to the site. It is located higher, “intercepts” the water, and diverts it to a drainage ditch or reservoir.

Waterproofing is carried out at the stage of foundation construction, laying a layer of modern waterproofing material on top of the base. Additionally inner surface The walls of the lower floor and basement are treated with penetrating waterproofing.

Storm drainage will prevent water from destroying the foundation of the house

Types of drainage

If none of budget options does not suit you or does not lead to the desired effect, you will have to arrange the drainage of the area yourself. According to the principle of creation, it can be local and general. Local drainage solves specific problems (drainage ground floors, building foundations). The general one is created by draining the entire territory of the site or its waterlogged part.

Types of implementation of drainage systems

Several drainage system schemes have been developed on the site:

Ring. Drainage pipes form a closed loop around the site or house. They are laid 25-35cm below the groundwater level. The scheme is rarely used due to the complexity of implementation (serious depth is often required to locate the drainage system).
Wall-mounted. It helps to drain water from the walls, so it is installed at a distance of 1.5-2.5 m from them. The drain is located 5-10 cm below the level of crushed stone under the basement floor.
Systematic. A developed and evenly distributed network of drainage canals throughout the territory. Drains are laid with a certain, pre-calculated step.
Radial. Consists of a system of canals and drains combined into common system, resembling a Christmas tree. Installed to prevent flooding.
Plastovaya. Removes perched water and is used in conjunction with a wall drainage system when creating slab foundation. Reservoir drainage - layers of non-metallic materials poured into a pit, and waterproofing. Reinforcement is laid on top of them, and then the foundation is poured.

Installation methods

The type of drainage system is determined individually, based on the tasks being solved at the site. The way to install them is as follows:

Closed. Excess water flows through special holes into drainage pipes, through which it is discharged into a storage well or reservoir. This outlet is well suited for soils with a high sand content that are highly permeable to water.
Open. On the territory of the site (or around) channels with walls at an angle of 20-30º are carefully dug, and ceramic or concrete drainage trays are laid in them. To protect against wind-blown debris, ditches are covered with gratings. To prevent the canal walls from collapsing, their slopes are reinforced with stones or plants are planted.
Backfill. Applies to su clay soils and areas with viscous clay soils. Drainage pipes with holes are laid in deep ditches, where a backfill of sand and crushed stone is placed, collecting water from nearby dense soils. The volume of backfill depends on the degree of moisture impermeability of local soils. The worse they conduct water, the more powerful the backfill.

The drainage system of the site is created taking into account the slope of the area and other indicators

Do-it-yourself drainage on a site is a network of interconnected channels located in an area that needs to be protected from excess moisture. Special plastic pipes have holes of 1.5-5mm through which water flows from the soil excess moisture. The pipes are wrapped in several filter layers, the number of which depends on the composition of the soil. For clay soils, pipes with three layers of filter textile are used.

The diameter of plastic pipes for private houses is up to 100 mm, when removing significant volumes of moisture - up to 150 mm. Inspection wells are installed at the points of their connection and rotation. Such elements make it easier to clean when clogged and allow you to monitor the system. The water flows into a single drainage well or discharge point (pond, ravine). A special collector well can be replaced by a concrete ring into which pipes are discharged. In this case, it is important to provide a ring cover to prevent debris from entering.

Drainage pipes

Pipes for the drainage system can be purchased at finished form or create it yourself. If there is no financial opportunity to buy these drainage components, they will help out plastic bottles. They are durable, so a system based on them will last at least 50 years. When creating a pipe, a hole is cut in the back of the bottle into which the neck of the next bottle is inserted. In another option, the bottles are simply stacked one after another with the caps tightly closed.

The laying of drainage pipes is carried out according to the scheme, taking into account the slope of the site

From many bottles assembled in this way, a closed drainage system, which creates air cushion in the trench. Sand is first poured into the bottom of the trench. For the system to work, several pipes made in a similar way should be placed nearby. It is advisable to cover the rows of bottle pipes on top with geotextiles. Water passes through the gaps between adjacent bottles.

You can create a drainage pipe from a sewer pipe. A grinder will allow you to make holes in it for moisture to penetrate. Cuts 10-20cm long are made in the pipe, distributing the holes evenly over the surface.

It is important to provide a certain number of cuts so that sewage pipe has not lost strength. The width of the holes should be up to 5mm, the distance between them should not be more than 50cm.

A drill will also allow you to make holes. It is important to ensure that their diameter is smaller than the fraction of crushed stone being poured (otherwise it will fall into the pipe). The distance between the holes is up to 10cm.

Slope

The collected water easily drains by gravity if the slope of the drainage system is correctly selected. Its minimum value is 2mm per linear meter pipes, maximum – 5mm. For shallow drainage, the slope is set to 1-3 cm per 1 meter. At high speeds of water movement, small soil particles are sucked in, which causes silting of pipes.

Drainage of the site will allow all plants to develop normally

Changing the standard slope is possible in the following situations:

increasing the slope is carried out when it is necessary to drain a large volume of water per unit of time without increasing the diameter of the drain;
reducing the slope is advisable if you need to avoid backwater when laying pipes below groundwater.

Drain installation

Preparing for installation of drainage around garden house requires digging trenches of given dimensions with an approximate slope. The bottom of the trenches is leveled, covered with a layer of coarse-grained river sand(about 100mm), carefully compacted.

The prepared sand is covered with geotextile, the fabric of which is lined along the walls of the trench. Next comes a layer of crushed granite stone 150-250mm high (on loams - 250mm, on sandy soils - 150mm). Its fraction depends on the diameter of the holes in the drainage pipes: for holes with a diameter of 1.5 mm, crushed stone of a fraction of 6-8 mm is taken, for others - larger.

The crushed stone is carefully leveled to the required slope, compacted, after which a drainage pipe is laid on the formed “cushion”. It is filled with gravel in several layers, each of which is compacted (there must be at least 100 mm of gravel on top of the drainage system). The ends of the geotextile are wrapped so that the overlap is about 20cm. It is covered with coarse sand to a height of 100-300 cm. A layer of “native” soil is placed on the compacted surface.

It is important to lay drainage from the lowest place in the area where the collector well has been previously installed. At high level surface and groundwater, water will accumulate in equipped ditches, forming a fluid mixture in combination with clay.

Drainage can be done using ceramic or PVC pipe. The design of the drainage system in these cases is similar

Getting into the well, it can cause blockages. In addition, accumulated water interferes with the work of laying drains, since the ditches must be dry. Side pits with crushed stone will allow you to temporarily drain water.

Backfill materials

When arranging a drain, it is important to correctly select non-metallic materials that act as backfill. The crushed stone must be granite or hard, lime-free. Marble and dolomite (limestone) are not used to create a drainage cushion because they are susceptible to moisture. The crushed stone must be washed so that the pipes do not silt.

Ordering washed crushed stone of the desired type and fraction from manufacturers is not a problem. However, how can you determine whether existing crushed stone is suitable for drainage? It is enough to drop vinegar on it and determine whether a reaction occurs. If hissing and foam appear, such non-metallic material cannot be used (belongs to the calcareous group).

When selecting sand, preference is given to the coarse-grained fraction with a size of 0.5-1 mm. To determine its purity, you should fill some part with water, shake and evaluate the transparency of the liquid when the sand settles. Muddy water indicates that the sand requires washing. Many modern suppliers of non-metallic materials are ready to provide high-quality, pre-washed sand in any volume.

Properly arranged drainage on clay soil will significantly improve the condition of the land plot and will avoid slurry underfoot after snow melts and heavy rainfall. It will last for decades without repair and will allow you to do gardening for your pleasure. If desired, you can develop a landscape design that will disguise or benefit from the drainage system.

Stormwater and melt water cause many problems for owners of plots with dense and heavy clay soils. Capital and temporary structures are destroyed by moisture, garden trees, lawn grass, cultivated plants experience discomfort. Properly constructed drainage in an area with clay soil will become the right decision and protection from troubles. If this is not done, then flooded foundations will freeze and collapse when cold weather sets in. The root system of green spaces receives little oxygen necessary for growth, as a result the plants wither and disappear. Drainage of a site on clay soils can be done with your own hands, following the diagram.

Clay soil problems

Clay soil is a great enemy of the foundation of a house and outbuildings, trees and shrubs. The lack of a slope for natural water drainage makes it difficult to carry out agricultural seasonal work and reduces living comfort. Sticky mud makes it impossible to walk around the area or do routine activities. When it rains, the lawn becomes like a swamp, and after drying, the top layer becomes covered with a crust that is difficult to break even with garden tools. In a clay area, vegetables in the beds do not ripen well, and the waterproofing of the foundation gradually deteriorates.

You can determine the level of soil permeability yourself. To do this, dig a hole 0.5 m deep and fill it with water. In an area with good drainage, within a day all the moisture will be absorbed into the ground. If water remains even in small quantities, then a drainage system is necessary. Drainage in a clay area will be an excellent way to remove water. The owners will be able to appreciate its benefits when the soil gradually dries out, and the harvest of the garden and vegetable garden will delight in abundance.

Types of drainage

In areas with clay soil, several types of drainage systems are allowed:

superficial;
deep;
reservoir

Surface drainage is suitable for areas with a slight natural slope. Shallow channels are laid along the surface of the soil. On clay soils, drainage is organized around the perimeter of recreation areas, lawns, buildings, and along paths. Water moves through plastic channels by gravity and is collected in a certain place in a special well. It can be used for watering, cleaning, or taken outside the site.

Do-it-yourself deep drainage of a site on clay soils is carried out if necessary to remove a significant amount of water. It flows through pipelines laid underground. The system includes one or more channels, the depth of which is 0.5 m wide and 1.2 m deep. Drainage pipes lead to a water collector - a well. In large areas, main main channels and additional side lines are located to maximize coverage of areas with stagnant water.

Reservoir drainage is a type of deep drainage, since its parts are located at great depths. The canal system is designed to drain water that constantly approaches the foundation of the building. Pipe installation is carried out at the lowest point of the foundation. Water leaves through drainage pipes located around the perimeter.

Drainage scheme and device

The drainage scheme for a site on clay soils is determined taking into account the area and amount of moisture, including high groundwater, snow, and precipitation. Surface drainage is considered an inexpensive option for the device, and requires financial investments and execution construction work- buried. Combining the two systems in clay areas will increase the quality and time of soil drainage. A site drainage diagram and engineering calculations are drawn up to carry out work over a large area. Arranging drainage for small areas does not require drawing up a plan, but it is important to take into account landscape features.

The canal system consists of a central drainage system and additional side branches. The distance between auxiliary routes is at least 10 meters, they are included under acute angle to the main highway. The diameter of the central pipe is 100 mm, additional 500-650 mm. Water is collected in a well with a drainage pump, in a pond, reservoir, and canals along the road.

The question of how to make drainage in a clay area is asked by the owners of their own houses and cottages. Work begins with excavation of the soil; a natural slope is arranged on a flat landscape. The depth of the channels ranges from 0.4 to 1.2 meters. Sand 15 cm thick is placed at the bottom of the side and main ditches, compacted, and crushed stone or expanded clay is poured on top.

Perforated plastic pipes wrapped in geotextile fabric are laid in the finished trenches. Crosses and tees are used for connections. The pipes are covered on top with crushed stone, a layer of sand, excavated soil, the layer thickness is at least 15 cm. In concrete or plastic well water flows by gravity; a drain pump is used to remove excess from the sump.

For supporting efficient work The drainage system requires periodic inspection and cleaning of wells. Using manual cleaning, order is restored to drainage systems open type. Full-scale cleaning is carried out by specialists using cleaning tools and pneumatic units.

Excess water on summer cottage leads to soil washout, a decrease in the yield of garden crops, and deformation of residential and outbuildings. In this case, it is important for everyone who is faced with such a problem to know how to drain the area of water with their own hands.

What influences the choice of dehumidification method

The accumulation of water on a site can occur for many reasons, but the main ones are the following:

increasing groundwater levels;
the site is located in lowlands, which contributes to the rapid accumulation of precipitation;
clayey and loamy soils with low moisture absorption coefficient.

The most problem areas on the site are determined in the off-season, when it falls maximum amount precipitation, – in early spring and late autumn. It is recommended to pump water from the site during the dry period - in summer.

Rapid drainage of land is carried out using several methods. When choosing suitable option To solve the problem, it is necessary to take into account the main factors:

type and level of soil permeability;
size of land;
optimal water level;
period of soil drainage from groundwater;
finished buildings on the site that require drainage;
direction of underground sources;
presence and type of vegetation.

The most popular methods of draining land on a site are the drainage system, drainage pits and ditches, elements landscape design, moisture-loving shrubs and trees.

Closed and open drainage systems

Modern drainage systems allow you to quickly and effectively get rid of excess liquid on the site. Simple drainage consists of a pipeline and a water receiver. A stream, lake, river, ravine or ditch can be used as a water intake.

The drainage system is equipped from the water intake to the land plot in compliance with optimal distance between its main elements. On dense soils with a high clay content, the distance between individual drains should be 8–10 meters, on loose and heaving soils - up to 18 meters.

Open drainage

An open or French drainage system consists of shallow ditches whose bottom is filled with fine gravel and stones. Such drainage is arranged quite simply: a small-depth ditch is dug with wastewater discharged into a drainage well or a deep trench to the level of the sand layer, which is used as a drainage cushion.

A drainage well measuring 1x1 m can have a closed or open design; its bottom is filled with medium-fraction gravel and broken bricks. Such structures do not become clogged, but are filled with soil, which is washed away by water. For this reason, draining this type of well is much more difficult than draining an open drain.

Closed drainage

A technically complex device that will quickly remove excess water and prevent it from stagnating. Arrangement closed drainage carried out using pipes made of clay or asbestos cement and laid in a certain order - in a straight line or in a herringbone pattern. Closed drainage is suitable for areas located on a slight slope, which ensures natural water flow.

Closed drains are often combined with drainage systems that allow water to be removed from the foundation of the house.

Sewage pits and ditches

Many owners choose a fairly simple way to solve the problem of draining areas by digging sewage holes and ditches. The arrangement of a cone-shaped pit is carried out as follows: at the lowest point you need to dig a pit up to 100 cm deep, up to 200 cm wide at the top and 55 cm at the bottom. The drainage system is quite effective, since excess moisture can be drained into drains without the use of additional means.

The process of arranging drainage ditches is more labor-intensive, but no less effective. Ditches are dug along the entire perimeter of the territory - the depth and width are 45 cm. The walls are made at an angle of 25 degrees. The bottom is laid out with broken bricks or gravel. The main disadvantage of ditches is their gradual crumbling, so it is worth timely cleaning and strengthening the walls with boards or concrete slabs.

Landscape design elements - streams and ponds

We effectively get rid of excess water on the site by installing artificial ponds and streams. Similar elements of landscape design can be organized in areas located at a slight slope.

It is better to arrange water sources in dark places to avoid algal blooms. Bottom artificial pond laid out with stone or geotextile.

To enhance the effect, moisture-loving vegetation – shrubs, plants, grass – can be planted next to the artificial pond.

Similar landscape forms Structurally they resemble the French drainage system, since they are arranged according to the same principle.

Moisture-loving plantings - shrubs, trees and grass

To drain the soil, moisture-loving trees, shrubs and grasses that are capable of pumping out excess water are used.

In order for green spaces to remove moisture, you need to know which varieties are recommended to be planted on the site. Such plantings include: willow, birch, maple, alder and poplar.

No less in demand are shrubs: hawthorn, rose hips and bladderwort. In moist soils, hydrangea, serviceberry, spirea, mock orange and Amur lilac develop.

To give the site attractiveness and aesthetics, moisture-loving garden flowers are planted - iris, aquilegia and asters.

Soil that is too wet is not suitable for growing fruit trees– pears, apple trees, plums and apricots. Therefore, when choosing trees, it is better to give preference to seedlings with a shallow root system. Trees are planted on hills up to 55 cm high.

To do this, a peg is driven into the soil, the earth around it is dug up to a depth of 25 cm. A prepared seedling is tied to the peg, the roots are sprinkled with earth with the addition of humus. The root collar remains exposed to a height of up to 8 cm above the ground surface.

After planting is completed, the seedling is watered abundantly to get rid of air gaps between the root system and the soil.

Important! Excessively wet soil has high acidity, so when draining it is recommended to additionally liming it. This will improve the quality of the soil for further gardening and household work.

During operation, the condition of the soil on the site is carefully checked, since excess moisture can cause negative impact for garden crops, residential and outbuildings. It is recommended to carry out the soil drainage procedure simultaneously with liming.

Now every landowner knows the answer to the question of how to get rid of water on the site and do it correctly. This will require free time, desire and financial investments.

Nature doesn't always arrange everything exactly the way we want. This is especially noticeable on our own plot of land. One of the problems may be periodic flooding of the ground after snow melts or heavy downpours. The solution is obvious - a drainage system is needed, especially if the soil is poorly permeable.

Draining a site with your own hands on clay soils is quite a feasible undertaking, although labor-intensive. It is important to correctly perform some calculations and take into account a number of features of clay soils.

When planning a drainage system, first determine the type of soil on your site. In our case, the permeability of the soil layer is important. If its degree is high, then drainage may simply not be required.

On clay soils everything is different: they are heavy, do not allow moisture to pass through well, and therefore take a long time to dry. Which Negative consequences this gives?

Let's start with basic discomfort. If the region is famous for snowy winters, then in the spring the land on the site is almost like a swamp. Walking is almost impossible - dirty and slippery. Plus, no gardening work: is it possible to do anything on soggy soils?

Vegetation will also suffer. Soil oversaturated with moisture does not allow oxygen to reach the root systems very well. The result is oxygen starvation, oppression and even death of plantings. This is clearly noticeable if there is a lawn on the site: the soil there is dense in itself, since loosening is not carried out. Flooding is especially dangerous when the crops begin to ripen. The quality of clay soil in the beds and in the garden can be gradually improved, but this is very difficult to do over the entire site.

Wet soils are a real resort for some snails and slugs. These pests can significantly damage plantings, especially vegetable ones. Waterlogging of the soil can unpredictably damage the foundations of buildings. Even high-quality waterproofing can break down over time if the soil is subject to deep freezing. It's just not safe anymore.

Do groundwater flow relatively close to clay soils? This could be another problem. In this case, the soil has virtually no chance to dry properly. Any serious downpour and the ground literally turns to mush.

Conclusion: site drainage on clay soils is necessary. All problems are immediately resolved: the soil dries out much faster than before, you can make beautiful paths and not be afraid that they will “float”, the garden flourishes in every sense.

What kind of soil do you have?

Determining the degree of soil permeability is easy. Dig a hole of small diameter, 0.6 m deep, and fill it with water. Has the moisture gone deeper within 24 hours? This means that the soil has high permeability. Two days have passed, but the pit is not yet empty, which means the soil is definitely heavy. Draining the area with your own hands is definitely necessary.

How to make drainage on a site

How to make drainage of a site on clay soil with your own hands? The type of drainage system depends on several factors:

land area;
estimated amount of precipitation, groundwater and melt water;
financial opportunities.

According to the method of installation, drainage on the site can be superficial or buried. In the first case, shallow trenches and special trays are required, which are covered with gratings. In the second, the trenches are much deeper. They are lined with geotextiles, then a layer of crushed stone is poured, and drainage pipes (drains) are laid.

On top and on both sides of the pipes there is another layer of crushed stone, over which the edges of the textile are folded overlapping and secured. Then - backfilling with soil.

On heavy soils it is recommended to combine both methods. Surface drainage will ensure rapid drainage of melt and sediment water. The inhabitants of the site will not have to wait until the moisture itself seeps into the soil. The recessed part of the drainage system will reliably direct water to the right place.

There are two more important points:

In heavy soils, it is undesirable to lay drains where the car will drive (park). The earth in this place will quickly become denser, and this part of the system will simply become useless.
At the stage of digging trenches, the soil in places where drainage channels are installed must be thoroughly loosened. This will temporarily increase its permeability and slightly slow down caking and compaction.

Design

In a small area you can do without serious engineering calculations. It is enough to clearly imagine the entire system.

Take a plan of your site, preferably to scale. All buildings must be marked on it. At the time of design, you should already know whether there is a natural slope on the site. Most often this can be seen without any instruments. If you have any doubts, invite a specialist with a level.
Start drawing the future drainage system on the plan. The main thing is the main canal, the main drainage system. It runs from the highest point of the site to the lowest. If the site is flat, then the direction of the main drainage system can be chosen arbitrarily, and the slope can be formed artificially.
Then you need to design where the additional drainage ditches. On clay soils, the distance between them should be about ten meters. The finished drainage system resembles a Christmas tree in appearance on the plan.

If it is possible to make combined drainage, then at the end of each “branch” and at the beginning of the main line there should be areas for rapid collection of water from the surface.

Important question: Where will the excess water go? There are three most popular options:

Ditch along the road (it is advisable to coordinate with neighbors “downstream”).
Decorative swamp on the site itself.
Underground water intake well with drainage pump.

Performance

For buried drainage, trenches with a depth of 1 - 1.2 and a width of 0.35 meters will be required. The amount of geotextiles, crushed stone, pipes, connecting and other elements is calculated in advance based on the drainage diagram. Tools needed:

bayonet and shovel shovels for earthworks;
wheelbarrow or stretcher (remove soil, carry and pour out crushed stone);
For correct formation slope - staff and level;
hacksaw to cut pipes.

It is important to remember: the slope is formed at the rate of approximately 1 cm per meter of pipe.

After the geofabric, crushed stone, pipes and drainage trays have been laid, it is important not to rush into the final filling of soil. Given the complexity of the soil, the drainage system needs testing. If possible, wait for a suitable downpour; if not, simulate precipitation using a hose and a stream of water.

If the flows correctly pass the entire system from beginning to end, the tests can be considered successfully completed. If the water stagnates, it is advisable to lay additional channels.

Installing drainage on clay soil will significantly improve the condition of the site, increase the comfort of staying there after snow melts or heavy rainfall, and make gardening easier.

Clay soil on the site is not a gift, especially in the spring, when it is flooded with meltwater. But such a section can also be brought into normal condition. In this article we will tell you how to do it.

Features of drainage on the site for clay soil;
How to plan a drainage system;
How to make a buried drainage system;
How to make a surface drainage system.

Why do drainage on clay soil?

Clay soil is a good enough reason to install a drainage system first thing after purchasing a plot. The design of the drainage system is made on the basis of geological and geodetic studies. FORUMHOUSE participants often carry out such work on their own. The composition of the soil can be studied visually by digging a hole at least one and a half meters deep (this is the average depth of soil freezing).

At FORUMHOUSE you can also find out how to do it yourself. The closer they come to the surface, the worse it is for the site and its owner: if the groundwater level is 0.5 meters below the base of the foundation, the water must be drained by placing drainage pipes 25-30 cm below the groundwater level. With a high groundwater level without drainage, the area remains wet almost all year round.

Tamara Nikolaev Architect, member of FORUMHOUSE

First you need to determine the groundwater level; if it is less than 2.5 m, drainage is necessary.

But in the case of clay soils, groundwater another misfortune is added: surface water that accumulates in low areas of the site. Such puddles are the first sign that there is a large layer of clay in the soil on your site, which does not allow water to pass through well.

Surface water is not high water. FORUMHOUSE has detailed analysis all live to the owner of the site.

So, a user of our portal with the nickname Brainy encountered this problem: after rains and downpours, there are puddles in the lower part of his site for weeks, and it seems that they are not absorbed into the hard, cement-like soil, but are evaporating.

A simple home test will help you assess the scale of the problem: dig a hole in the area a little more than half a meter deep and pour 5-7 buckets of water into it. If the water does not go into the ground within a day, the site, in addition to drainage, will need a stormwater system that will remove the perched water.

Water that is poorly absorbed into clay soil harms plantings, lawns, and building foundations; In addition, constant dampness attracts mosquitoes. The problem may be aggravated by the location of the site: if it is in a lowland, all the surrounding waters will flow into your territory.

Therefore, a house on a site with clay soil is protected not only by drainage and storm water, but also by layered clay soil.

Drainage plan

When planning a drainage system, it is necessary to take into account the nearby ditches, holes, etc. - after all, we are not going to build a house in an open field; most likely, there will be a place to drain the water. It is also necessary to decide whether we will drain the entire area or divert water from the base and foundation. Draining an entire area, especially a large one, is always a costly and troublesome undertaking; it may make sense to divide the task into several subtasks and first ensure a dry area around the house.

Local wall drainage for draining the foundation is installed 1.5-2.5 m from the house, laying the building pipes 100 mm below the basement waterproofing level.

The plan of the drainage system indicates where the trenches go, what their slope is, where they connect into the main line that goes to the water intake well, where they are made.

Drainage is designed from the top down and built from the bottom up.

When drawing up a plan, you should remember that with buried drainage, it is not allowed to lay pipes where a car and other heavy equipment can drive: the soil in this place will inevitably sag and damage the car. In such places, only drainage by storm sewer is allowed.

Storm drain consists of shallow ditches without pipes directed to a well that collects water. Plastic trays can be inserted into these shallow trenches and covered with special gratings.

With buried drainage They make a system of deep trenches 30-50 cm wide, in which drain pipes with holes of 1.5 -55 mm are installed around the entire circumference. Drains with a diameter of 10 cm are considered the most convenient. Some of them are equipped with shells made of filtering materials.

A buried drainage system is formed from the main main pipeline and perforated pipes that are connected to it.

The main pipe is either made in the center of the site, and the drains are connected to it in a herringbone pattern, or laid along the perimeter of the site 25-30 cm below the groundwater level.

This is an expensive scheme that is used in the most difficult cases, when the area resembles a complete swamp until mid-summer.

Evan

You need to dig from the water intake - storm drain, ravine or storage drainage chamber and up the slope. The drainage is placed in a dry trench.

How to make buried drainage of a clay area

Here is one of the popular and practice-tested drainage systems from Tamara Nikolaev.

We compact the bottom of a deep (120 cm) trench.
We fill in a layer of coarse washed river sand - 10 cm. The layer is leveled in accordance with the slope angle, carefully compacting it.
We lay drainage pipes. They are attached to each other with socket or coupling connections.

By building regulations minimum slope drainage pipes should be 2 cm per linear meter; in practice for good drain make 5-10 cm per linear meter.

If the site has a sufficient natural slope, the depth of the trenches up to the well itself remains the same. Pipes of different diameters require different slope depths: the larger the diameter, the shallower the slope. Thus, the minimum slope for turf with a diameter of 10 cm is 2 cm per linear meter.

Evan FORUMHOUSE Member

Pipes in a geotextile filter are not placed in clay soil. A silted pipe can be washed, but the layer of silt on the surface of the geotextile cannot be removed. Pipes in a geotextile filter are placed in sandy, gravelly soils without clay particles.

For good penetration moisture into the pipe in the trench, sprinkle it with water-permeable materials, such as washed granite crushed stone or gravel of fraction 20-40.
The fabric is made of geotextile. GT is needed to separate the layers, and it must be polypropylene, since polyester quickly decomposes in the ground.
Add a layer of coarse sand.

The thickness of the layers of gravel and sand is from 10 to 30 cm. The denser and more waterproof the clay, the thicker the backfill layer.

We fill this pie with fertile soil from the trenches.

Oss

I did this (soil-clay): pour sand into the trench, then geotextiles, then 5-10 cm of crushed stone of fraction 20-40, washed from sand, then a drainage pipe (remove the GT from it, it is not needed on it), crushed stone again on top about 20-30 cm, then we close the geotextile and put the earth on top. That's it, the drainage is ready.

To monitor the operation of the drainage and, if necessary, clean the pipes, inspection wells are made in the system.

Evan

Wells at each turn (allowed after one at a high frequency of installation) - the norm of the Moscow Architecture Committee Guidelines, Directive 48 of November 20, 2000 and many earlier ones. We hide the wells under lawn grates and other methods of decoration.

From the pipes, water must flow into a water intake well, which is made at the lowest point of the relief, and accumulate there to a certain level. To install it, they dig a hole 2-3 meters deep; concrete rings install from the very bottom.

The water level in the water intake well depends on the depth of the drainage pipes and on how the water will be drained in the future: usually it is either taken for irrigation or discharged into a ditch outside the site.

How to make surface drainage of a clay area

Let’s make a reservation: experts consider “surface drainage” to be an incorrect term; in building codes the term “storm drainage” is used.

The storm drainage system cannot remove water from clay soil, but it does not allow the formation of puddles on its surface - the water will not stagnate, but will immediately flow into the well.

For such a system, ditches are made about 80 cm deep, the same as in a buried system - on a slope. The bottom is covered with a layer of sand (10 cm), which compacts well, and a layer of crushed stone (about 30 cm). You can go further by filling the layers with concrete and placing plastic trays.

Cause surface waters– stagnation of melt and rainwater in uneven terrain and accumulation of this water in top layer soil. That is, an additional measure should be adding soil to all local depressions, so that the most uniform slope is formed throughout the entire area for water drainage.

Correctly performed slope is the best prevention of the appearance of surface water.

Member FORUMHOUSE da4hik I bought a plot of land, opened up the floor to replace it and saw a small pool there: strip foundation was completely filled with water. It had been raining for almost ten hours the day before.

The first thing our user did was to dig a hole about 70 cm deep under the floor, which corresponded to the size of the found case from small refrigerator. I poured sand and some crushed stone on the bottom. Additional holes were made in the case for better filling. At the bottom of the body I attached a siphon from the sink, onto which I put a thick rubber pipe with a diameter of about 60 cm, passed it under the foundation and made a trench towards the slope, where at the end of the site a brick water intake well remained from the old owner.

Now, after rains, all the water drains from under the foundation. And this drainage system not only removes water from under the house, but also works to partially drain the area. True, now the summer resident has to water more often, but this is a much lesser evil.