Owners of suburban areas with clay soil or located in lowlands often face such a problem as flooding with rain or melt water. In order to protect the landings and foundations of the house and various outbuildings, drainage systems are equipped on such allotments. The simplest and cheapest type of such networks are drainage ditches.
Definition
The principle of operation of any drainage ditch is extremely simple. The water accumulated as a result of melting snow or prolonged downpours flows into such a trench, laid with a slope, and is discharged outside the site. There are two main types of such ditches:
- upland;
- cuvettes.
The first type of trenches is laid from the overlying territory. Cuvettes are arranged along the perimeter of the site, along the fences.
Benefits of using
Paving the plotdrainage ditch, you can get rid of, for example, problems such as:
- formation of puddles and mud;
- death of garden and garden plants due to wetting of the roots;
- rotting of various kinds of wooden structures, for example, the legs of benches and tables;
-
destruction of the foundation of the house and outbuildings;
- deterioration of the he alth of site owners due to high humidity.
Actually, the process of arranging a drainage ditch is nothing complicated. It is not required to hire workers and rent special equipment for laying such a drainage system. The arrangement of ditches costs the owners of suburban areas literally a penny.
Flaws
The main disadvantage of this type of drainage networks is considered to be not very high efficiency compared, for example, with a deep drainage system. Ditches are usually built only in those areas that are flooded during heavy rains or not too much in the spring.
Also, some disadvantage of this type of drainage systems is that they can spoil the appearance of the allotment. In most cases, the owners of suburban areas have to mask such ditches, for example, by planting ornamental plants.
SNiP requirements for drainage ditches
To equip such networks, despite their constructive simplicity, in the areas, including with their own hands, of course, must be in compliance with all the required technologies. Requirements for drainage systems of this type are providedthe following:
- on a private facility, the slope of the ditch should be approximately 2 cm per 1 m2, on an industrial site - 3-5 cm;
- ditch should be about 50cm wide and at least 70cm deep;
- slopes are equipped at an angle of 30 degrees.
The standards of SNiP when designing a ditch must also be observed in terms of the actual drainage of water. It is not allowed to lay such drainage systems:
- to those waters where fish live;
- to rivers with beaches;
- to unfortified ravines;
- to nearby wetlands.
Also, according to the regulations, the laying of drainage ditches is prohibited in those places where groundwater is closer than 2 m to the surface of the earth. In this case, there is a possibility of contamination of the drinking vein by sewage. Sometimes in such areas drainage ditches are nevertheless laid. However, in this case, it is mandatory to mount special plastic receiving trays on their bottom.
How to make a drainage ditch: choosing a laying site
First of all, the owner of a suburban area, who decided to make a drainage system of this type, of course, should decide on the place of its arrangement. It is not required to hire engineers for this and perform any complex actions. In order to determine the optimal location for laying a ditch, you should simply wait for the first strongrain.
By observing the streams flowing down the site, the location of the drainage system can be determined with high accuracy. In order not to forget how the water moves around the allotment, you can simply install landmark sticks at the place where the streams form.
Receiver
It is impossible to divert water into lakes and ponds with fish, ordinary ravines and wetlands, as we found out. If it is simply impossible to remove water outside the allotment, in addition to the ditch itself, a receiving well will also have to be equipped on its territory. The design of this type of container is extremely simple, and if necessary, it will also be possible to mount them with your own hands.
The advantage of arranging receivers, among other things, will most likely be the possibility of water accumulation. In the future, it will be advisable to use it for watering horticultural and horticultural crops. If desired, the wastewater receiver can even be designed as a decorative pond. In this case, it will also become a decoration of the site.
What tools will be required
For independent laying of a ditch, it will be necessary to prepare, of course, first of all a bayonet shovel. Also, to perform the work in this case, you will need a garden wheelbarrow. To fill it with earth, you need a shovel. As already mentioned, it will be necessary to equip the ditch and the building level.
In addition, the owner of a suburban area before laying a drainage trench will have to prepare:
- pegs-landmarks;
- cord;
- roulette.
How to make a ditch
After the place for this type of drainage system is selected, you can proceed to its actual arrangement. Previously, using pegs on the site, mark the line of laying the ditch. Next, a cord is pulled between the pegs and the actual excavation work begins.
Dig such drainage trenches, usually, of course, using a well-ground bayonet shovel. The earth is rolled away along the edges of the ditch. As it accumulates, it is collected with a shovel and taken out on a wheelbarrow so that it does not crumble to the bottom of the trench. When digging a ditch, they constantly control the level of the slope of its bottom using a building level.
The top fertile layer of soil removed during the digging process, of course, is not necessary to be taken outside the site. It can be mixed with, for example, manure or compost and used in the garden. At the end of digging, the bottom of the ditch must be laid with crushed stone and compacted this material. Pour crushed stone into the trench should be a fairly thick layer. Subsequently, this material will retain various kinds of debris in the ditch.
Installing the receiver
Wells of this type can be plastic or concrete. Equip them, of course, at the lowest point of the laid ditch. A pit is dug under the well. Next, the purchased ready-made plastic structure or concrete rings are installed in the pit. The diameter of the pit should be slightly larger than the dimensions of the container mounted in it. Between the walls of the pit and the well itselflater you need to fill in the sand.
The rings can be lowered into the pit without the use of special equipment. In this case:
- the ring is rolled to the installation site;
- dig the hole itself.
As the earth is excavated, the ring will sink under its own weight. Of course, it is not necessary to make the receiver too voluminous and deep. The main thing is to ensure that the well has a volume sufficient to receive all the water flowing from the site.
You can also simply pour rubble into the bottom of the pit in a thick layer and concrete its walls. The arrangement of such a receiver will be the cheapest. Indeed, in this case, the owners of the site will not have to pay for the finished plastic container or rings.
Equip such a well in the sun. Indeed, for watering most garden and horticultural crops, it is supposed to use only warm water.
How to strengthen the walls of the ditch
Of course, on the site for the removal of storm or melt water, you can lay a simple earthen trench. However, such a ditch will fulfill its task, most likely, only within a couple or three of the next few years. Subsequently, its walls will surely crumble and it will have to be cleaned.
Restoring a drainage ditch is almost as time-consuming as its arrangement. Therefore, many summer residents prefer to further strengthen such trenches. This can be done, for example, with the help of ordinary stones collected in the vicinity. It is supposed to install such material in this case by the method of dry laying with dressing. The stones at the same timeit is best to use large enough. Small ones may subsequently crumble to the bottom of the trench.
Also, the drainage ditch can be strengthened using a special plastic geogrid. It will be easy to buy such a device, for example, in a hardware store or order it online.
Another good way to strengthen drainage ditches in areas is to sod them. In this case, pieces of turf cut somewhere in the area are laid on the walls of the trench and fastened to thin wooden pegs.
How to disguise
So that the ditch does not spoil the appearance of the site, it can be styled, for example, under a natural stream. In this case, along the edge of the trench walls reinforced with stones, it is necessary to lay out rounded river pebbles of various sizes. Also, along the edges of the ditch, various kinds of marsh and moisture-loving plants should be planted in places - reeds, hops, arizema, calla, etc.
The receiver in such a system, of course, would be best decorated in the style of a pond. Around the well, you will need to lay the same pebbles and plant marsh plants.
If the ditch runs along the edge of the site, it can also be masked by planting small ornamental shrubs. These can be, for example, cinquefoil, cistus, cassiopeia, etc. The advantage of this camouflage method is, among other things, that the roots of shrubs will additionally strengthen the walls of the ditch. However, when using ornamental plantsin spring or autumn, the owners of a suburban area will also have to perform such a procedure as cleaning the drainage ditch from fallen leaves. Otherwise, the effectiveness of the drainage can be significantly reduced in a few years.
