Well today I finally got someone to come out and survey the surface / storm water drain in our garden. Since moving in 6 years ago the ground has steadily dipped along the drain run and the manhole cover has twisted and deformed. I was hoping it was just down to the ground settling after the dry weather of the past few years but alas I now know it is more serious with water sitting in the drain (not blocked) from the almost the bottom of the manhole to a distance of 5m.

It will have to be repaired which will mean digging up the garden. However, we have toyed with the idea of building an extension to the rear of the house and although we don't have the money to do this now I'm thinking the drain repair should probably take this into account.

So, what are people's views:
- Should I get this done immediately and move the surface water drain further from the house, it is currently 3m from the rear which is about where we'd extend?
- If we move the storm drain should we also move the foul drain / sewer at the same time (currently it is less than 1m from the rear of the house?
- If we are going to this length and digging up the back garden should we consider a rainwater harvesting tank?

Thanks

Paul

DamonHD,

As far as I am aware our garden isn't big enough for GSHP unless we went for the bore hole type.

Paul

When it rains what happens? Why does it need to be repaired now if it's not actually blocked or leaking?

The fact there is standing water means the falls are out but it doesn't mean it won't work as a drain. The romans used inverted syphons to get water across whole valleys!

Unless there is a good reason to do it now I'd leave it until you do the extension.

I find it strange that you believe your'e drain has split/ is leaking when you also say water is sitting in it? Could it not be the case that the patio was badly laid before you bought the house and has continued to settle? The best way to check your'e drains is to get a company to rod with a camera down there to see whats what (no idea of cost but got to be cheaper than digging)

OOPS, speedreading = missing content

I've taken some pics of the ground to give an idea of my concerns. I doubt I can work out how to upload the video taken as part of the CCTV survey.

The pipe is only 110mm in diameter and pretty darn strong. If the cause was pipe failure I doubt the dip would be that big!

I'd say backfill wasn't done properly, probably didn't bother with gravel and used the soil without properly compacting it in layers. The result being it's just settled.

Thanks all for your input and thoughts. I'm going to leave it until the extension is done. I might get the manhole area re-done sooner rather than later because the top won't fit properly so is a bit unsafe, plus cutting the lawn is a PiTA.

Paul