Any ideas on how to divert storm water fast enough.

iishappy

We have a bit of an issue with flash flooding and a street drain that can’t cope allowing water to enter the property front air bricks. We are pretty much near the bottom of a quarter mile steep hill and any severe downpour that lasts for more than 10 minutes forces the drains to push water backup then as soon as the rain slows up or stops we still have water pouring out the drains for another 20mins from everything uphill from us. Also we are on a close and the lowest point so we are the only ones really affected as both neighbours are on higher ground. We also have water coming out of a manhole cover at top of our drive and up and out of the drain pipes located at front of property which isn’t helping.

The front of the property is higher than the back so all water can move away down the drive but just not quick enough to stop water entering the air bricks at the front of the property.

Council are investigating but thoughts on anything else we can do in the meantime, the downpipe isn’t helping as it’s partially blocking the water flow from the front of the house.

Lomast

https://www.ukflooddefencealliance.com/product/floodtite-airbrick-covers/

I would invest in some of these 

subjecttocontract

Presumably you pay a water company for sewage removal, which includes rainwater. In your shoes i'd contact them, as well as my local council and in particular environmental health and my local councillor to make sure this issue has the urgency attached that it deserves.

iishappy

Thanks for reply's, have only contacted the council so will reach out to to the water company and environmental health.

Section62

iishappy said:

Thanks for reply's, have only contacted the council so will reach out to to the water company and environmental health.

I'd suspect either the gully is blocked or one of the pipes connecting it to the surface water sewer system is partially blocked.

As this is surface water on the road (and probably 'highway drainage') rather than a public sewer, it is likely the water company will initially direct you to the council.

As a first step, the council should be jetting the gully and connection to remove all/any built up silt, and verify that the gully is 'running clear' to the main sewer.

It may be more likely they will tell you the flooding is due to global warming and they don't have the budget to do anything... in which case go through the council's formal complaints process.

However, it looks like you also have water 'surcharging' out of your own drain where the gutter downpipe connects - if this is connected to the public surface water sewer (rather than a soakaway) then make sure you emphasise this when you talk to the water company as it would mean your flooding is partially due to surface sewer flooding which makes it a water company issue, even if the water is initially coming from the road.

iishappy

Thanks for the reply, we had the comment previously from the council that this was down to unusual weather events its the second time this year its happened last time they just sent a wagon out to jet to pipe, this time hopefully they will do more. the reply from the council currently is "We have carried out an inspection and a decision will be made on the necessary action to be taken. We will notify you as soon as this decision has been made." lets see what they do this time /

With regard to water surging out of the drain pipes, its the first time its come out of ours but the previous time it happened it was coming out the neighbours drain pipes. Don't know if that makes a difference? (I don't think we have soakaways). Thanks

FreeBear

I'd be looking at directing the drainage for the downpipes to a soakaway withing the boundary of the property - If you are on sand, it need not be a huge one. This would stop water 'surcharging" out of the connection and reduce the sewerage charges. However, digging up the drains and installing a soakaway is a lot of work for not a lot of savings on the water bill.

If you do decide to "fix" your drains, I can recommend fitting a debris gully to the bottom of each downpipe. Gives you a window in to the flow of water, and limits the amount of crud going in to the drainage system.

Section62

iishappy said:

Thanks for the reply, we had the comment previously from the council that this was down to unusual weather events its the second time this year its happened last time they just sent a wagon out to jet to pipe, this time hopefully they will do more. the reply from the council currently is "We have carried out an inspection and a decision will be made on the necessary action to be taken. We will notify you as soon as this decision has been made." lets see what they do this time /

With regard to water surging out of the drain pipes, its the first time its come out of ours but the previous time it happened it was coming out the neighbours drain pipes. Don't know if that makes a difference? (I don't think we have soakaways). Thanks

I anyone further up the hill doing building work?  Less common that it used to be due to greater enforcement, but one common cause of surface water drainage issues can be building waste (soil, sand, concrete washout) getting into the drainage system.

Climate change/extreme weather is the favourite excuse of local authorities that have neglected drainage maintenance, rarely much truth to the claims.

Is there a river/stream running along the rear of your property?

iishappy

No building work that we are aware of and no river to the rear of us, the wife spotted jetting wagons out 2 streets down hill from us this morning, that's at the bottom of the quarter mile hill before it climbs up the other side. We are also on clay to previous question