What should i do with the run-off water here?

[John57]

 

 These two agi pipes bring water from the front garden. A drop of .5-1.5m front to back.

Soil is solid clay. From this discharge point next to the fence the yard drops a further meter to the back fence.

I was thinking of draining the water towards the citrus tree. But water logging is a high risk.
Or drop a leaching tank into the ground. But given the soil profile you can see in this hole below from elsewhere in this garden it’s clay all the way. So I suspect water dispersion from the leaching tank may not be successful. Unless the hole is oversized and filled with gypsum and soil. Is this the best permanent solution?

Advice and practical ideas very welcome please.

[Jason]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @John57. We're so pleased to have you join us and look forward to reading more about your garden and about all your projects and plans for around the house. We're sure you will get plenty of helpful information, advice and inspiration from our amazing community members.

Apologies for the slow reply. Many of our members are taking a well-earned break at the moment, including our resident Bunnings D.I.Y. expert @MitchellMc. I will ask Mitchell to assist when he returns next week. In the meantime, I appreciate your patience and will tag wonderful members like @Adam_W, @LePallet, @JDE and @redracer01 to see if they might be able to assist.  

Thanks again,

Jason

[John57]

Thanks Jason and happy New Year.

[JDE]

@John57 

Are you able to link it to your stormwater?

JDE

[John57]

Hi @JDE 

Unfortunately the storm drain is behind that shed over there 😉

These outlets are diagonally opposite the far back corner of the site and down hill of the storm drain. There is a concrete path as you can see between these outlets and the storm drain over there too.

 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @John57,

I wouldn't have thought the citrus would appreciate being that water-logged. You could connect those two solid Ag-lines to a single socked perforated Ag-line. You can then run it backwards and forwards all over the area. This would allow the water to seep out of it over a larger surface area instead of just the one location. If you could take a wide-angle photo of the area for distribution, we might come up with some alternatives.

Please let me know if you need further help or had questions.

Mitchell

[John57]

Hi Mitch

These two outlets are not solid agi pipes. They are sock covered slotted agi pipes.

[redracer01]

Hello @John57 

A leaching tank is an excellent idea. However a high concentration of clay in your soil will immediately fill the tank. Looking at your picture I can just make out the water path the rain is making in your garden. I suspect there is a slight slope in your garden causing the rain to pool in this area. 

You could :

- dig around the low areas of your citrus and place socked agi pipe in a circular pattern around the citrus trees to redirect the water to the drains at the back. 

- create a surface channel drain to redirect the water in case of a downpour. Surface  drains are always easier to maintain as it allows you to clear debris by hand. However it is harder to construct. 

- re plant the citrus in large pots and recondition the whole area until you get ideal soil conditions. 

Either way it will require you to dig to allow the water drain off. Water log canditions will rot the roots of your trees and they will die off. 

Below is a picture of a possible cement channel. The channel has to be made in such a way that if water enters it it flows to your cemented area or flows to the drains. It does not need to be uniform it just needs to have the right level for proper water re direction. The lines attached to the channels are smaller channels meant to redirect excess water to the bigger channels. Below is a quick sketch of what you could possibly make.

Red

[John57]

Hi RR1

Thanks for your ideas and sketches.

The channel of water flow you see was dug by me. To keep the water away from the fence.

Your pattern is a similar design I suggested to my wife to plant multiple plants around this area. 

Under the mulch you see we laid four inches of soil. But I think it isn’t enough for planting except maybe ground cover plants. I could rake back the mulch and add more soil. I’m not fond of concrete as a swale drain. I’d prefer to use another method to disperse the water. There’s no drains at the rear of the property except the far left corner storm water drain as I mentioned is uphill of this area.

what if i ran similar socked agi pipe out under the fence into the reserve on the other side of the fence and let that water find its own way there? May not meet somebody’s regulation drainage requirements though I suspect.

[redracer01]

Hello @John57 

Putting agi lines near the fence line often causes the posts foundations to soften up and the posts start to lean and sway. I'm not sure about the rules in your area but it would be a pain if you had to fix the fence due to leaning. I know it's a pain but I think you should take back the mulch and place socked agi lines 65mm near the muddiest areas and redirect to the front. Let me ponder a few more days for a better idea.

Red