How to create charged wet system for house with mild negative slope?

[LorenClayton]

Hello

My house has a slight negative grade from the street. Front carport and roof gutter are connected to kerb. The 3 rear gutters need to connect to a wet, charged system also to kerb. Moreton Bay Council have approved this. They also recommended a drainage point so I can clean it out. Can you please provide a link to one of these?

I want to buy 4 Bunnings leaf eaters for my 4 downpipes (The $39.95 ones). I understand these help to prevent backflow of water up into the gutters and eaves and also backflow from the kerb.

I understand that a charged, wet system is prone to silt & sludge so how do I access the drainpipes to clean them? Are there easily accessible caps that unscrew? Can you please link to these if so? Or would this be part of the drainage point?

I'm not intending on having a water tank. Is the wet charged system OK with just drainpipes and leaf eaters, and regular maintenance to clear out the system? Please advise what I should be asking the plumber to install so I can do this. Also, should there be some sort of splash diverter for the water which splashes out next to the foundations during heavy rain? I'd rather this than a backflow back up my drainpipes, but excess water near the foundations isn't ideal either.

Also, a rear neighbour has a retaining wall behind the colorbond fence (see photo) and water pools up considerably. Should I install 2 groundwater pits either side in the back yard? Would appreciate some advice here as well.

Please advise the best system for me, preferably with a diagram. Thanks for your help.

site of wet charged system to kerb

[Jason]

Hi @LorenClayton,

Many thanks for your post. 

I note one of our experienced Bunnings D.I.Y. experts Mitch last week recommended you reach out to a licensed plumber for their expert advice and assessment. Were you able to organise a visit? He said a plumber was recommended to assess your options since there are legal and technical considerations of making connections to drainage systems. 

Let me also tag a few experienced community members in @JDE, @Dave-1 and @Jewelleryrescue for their thoughts.

Jason

[Dave-1]

Good morning @LorenClayton 

I thought a wet charged system was for a rain collection systemm with a tank that had the feed into the tank fronm up the downpipe, down to the ground and then up to into the tank. 

As you have contacted the council and they have given their recomendation you may find some resources ion how to from their website.

I would suggest to speak to a plumber as if the pipes are going to be "charged" (filled with standing water) and need to be access to be cleaned it may be wiser to get their recomendations. I have not come across this sytstem before.

With the build up of water near the retaining wall, a pit and a sump pump  plus piping would be an idea. The distance the water will need to travel to get to the street and the height it needs to rise may be a probelm. This could be factored into your charged system but I would strongly suggest to talk to a plumber to get it right.

Dave

[LorenClayton]

Hello Jason

Yes, a plumber is currently doing up a quote. I've had 2 previous plumbers though leading me astray and basically giving me wrong and / or quite different information. This is why I asked Bunnings Community for their unbiased advice - I just want to get an overall perspective on the issue as this is all new to me. Council has already approved this wet charged system to kerb and attached a kerb requirements sheet for the plumber. There are considerable differences in pricing for the 2 quotes I've received so far. None of these quotes include information on how I access these drainpipes to clean out myself. This is important to me as I don't want to call out a plumber to do this if it's relatively simple and I can do this myself.

So I welcome any advice from the community here, especially from someone who has maintained a system like this or has personal knowledge on this and can advise on any likely pitfalls I may come across. Thanks again.

[LorenClayton]

Hello Dave

No, my understanding is that a wet, charged system can be drainpipes alone, no tank, if the fall isn't too severe. In my case it's a mild negative slope. This system is for the 3 rear drainpipes only, not the water pooling up in the backyard.

I may have confused the issue by mentioning my backyard as well, which is a completely separate issue. No, I don't want to route this water to the kerb! I probably do need surface groundwater pits to help collect this overflow and I believe retain it temporarily while the water gradually is absorbed into the ground. I was wondering if anyone here had personal knowledge on how effective these 250 mm groundwater pits are, or whether they had other advice here. Thanks again.

[Jason]

No worries, thanks for the clarification @LorenClayton. It can certainly be challenging if you get different advice from professionals. Hopefully our members and resident Bunnings D.I.Y. experts can be helpful to you.

Jason

[EricL]

Hello @LorenClayton 

I suggest asking your plumber to provide you with a layout plan and a detailed parts list when you ask for a quote. One of the important parts of your charged system is the ability to access the pipe work and you can do this by using a Holman 100mm Female And Female PVC DWV Test Opening. It's big enough to fit your hand in and you can push your garden hose down it to clear any silt build up. The ground water pits can be custom built out of concrete so that you can have it built in a narrow configuration so that it does not overwhelm your garden.

In regards to the leaf eater, are you referring to the Rain Harvesting 90mm Leaf Eater Original Rain Head? If you are, just make sure that you get the leaf diverter mesh that comes with it.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[Dave-1]

Morning @LorenClayton 

As a side note just in case it helps.

When I had my plumber come out to check my stormwater pipes and they were compressed solid. So before I ripped them out and replaced them all he  suggested that instead of pulling up the concrete pathway down the side of the house, why not run the stormwater pipe attached to the house wall. It would save a whole lot of time and effort plus expanse. I chose not to as I didnt want a pipe running down the side. (no reason really not to)

With your place, I am presuming the front of the house would be at teh same level as the gutter? You could route your stormwater pipes along the house, high, midway and then when it gets to the front drop the pipe down and straight across to the gutter point.

Dave