French Drain - Drain Pit & Pump - Need some suggestions

[RobUVa]

My home is on a drainage easement for water from the road. It is very low-lying, and both lots on either side of me are significantly higher than my lot. With respect to the drainage easement there is a drainage ditch along one side which handles the road runoff very well (it dumps it into the river behind my yard). On the other side, I have a neighbor with a large fish pond and a large pool both right beside my property line. While he has a drain pump system consisting of feeder pipes flowing into a sunken 50 gal drum with a sump pump for discharging the water to the river, it either isn't functioning well, or I need to supplement it. Since my yard is so low lying, and the water table is relatively high due to the proximatity of the river, what options are available?

I could try to construct my own drainage system, but would the nature of my yard defeat it's operation?

Thanks in advance

 

[gandersen]

RobUVa:

Perhaps you could provide a few more details. Are you talking only about handling the surface runoff, or are you also talking about lowering the groundwater table on your lot? Handling the surface drainage could be as simple as building swales and diverting runoff to the river. Lowering the groundwater permanently could have adverse impacts on the performance of your foundation. The question is sufficiently complex as to warrant that you should contact a local geotechnical engineer and run these questions by him.

I wish you the best of luck.

 

[SirAl]

Hi RobUVa

Sounds like you have a challenging problem. Positive lot grading is an important aspect that should be reviewed. The proximity of the river could make subsurface drains risky, particularly at high water levels or flood events. Does your house have a basement? Do you know the soil profile inherent to your lot?