Do you have one or more areas in your yard that hold water after a rainfall? This is a common problem, and sometimes difficult to solve. Over the years I've talked with dozens of people trying to battle this problem, and on several occasions I have been hired to solve the problem. So what can be done?
Too often people come to me asking what kind of a tree, or what kind of shrubs can be planted in a wet area to dry it up. This is the wrong approach. Most plants, and I mean almost all plants are not going to survive in an area where the soil is soggy for extended periods of time. The roots need to breath, and planting a tree or shrub in a water area will kill it.
Another common approach is to try and fill the area with topsoil. Depending on a variety of variables, this can work, but many times adding additional soil to a wet area will only shift the water to another area just a few feet away.
If you are lucky enough to have some natural fall to your property, or a drainage ditch nearby, this problem is easy enough to solve. If you happen to live in an area that was developed over the past few years, there might even be a system to remove storm water nearby. In many new home developments I've seen stormwater catch basins already installed in backyards. Trust me, this is a good thing. There is nothing worse than having a soggy yard all the time.
If you are fortunate to have some fall to your yard, or a stormwater system that you can drain water into, this problem is easy to solve. Make sure you check with your local officials before you do anything at all with a storm drain.
All you have to do is go to your local building supply center and buy some 4" perforated plastic drain pipe. The best kind for this purpose is the flexible kind that comes in 100' rolls. This type of drain pipe has small slits all around the pipe. These slits allow water to enter the pipe so it can be carried away.
Just dig a trench from the center of the low area you are trying to drain, to the point that you intend to drain it to. Using a simple line level you can set up a string over top of the trench to make sure that your pipe runs downhill all the way. A line level is a very small level that is designed to attach to a string. Any hardware stores sells them for just a couple of dollars. Set the string up so it is level, then measure from the string to the bottom of your trench to make sure you have constant fall. You should have 6" fall for every 100' of pipe.
The highest point is going to be the area that you are trying to drain, so you only want your pipe deep enough at this point so it can be covered with soil. Once the trench is dug just lay the pipe in. At the highest end of the pipe you'll need to insert a strainer into the end of the pipe to keep soil from entering the pipe. Cover the pipe with some washed stone, and then backfill the trench with soil. The washed stone creates a void around the pipe so that the water can find its way into the pipe.
Washed stone is usually inexpensive stone that has been washed so it is clean and free of mud. The only part of the pipe that needs to be exposed is the low end, where the water exits the pipe. Do not put a strainer in that end.
If you do not have anywhere that you can drain the water to, you still might be able to do something. But first consider what is happening, and why the water is standing where it is. Even if you have well drained soil, water cannot soak in fast enough during periods of heavy rain, and it runs across the top of the ground and eventually finds the lowest point, and either leaves the property, or gets trapped.
If you have well drained soil, the trapped water usually soaks in. If you have heavy clay soil, the water lays there, and the soil underneath becomes very compacted, and the problem compounds itself. The more water that stands, the worse the drainage gets.
What I have done in areas like this, where there is standing water, but nowhere to drain it to, is to install a French drain system that actually carries the water away from the low area, and allows it to seep into the ground over a larger distance, where the soil is not quite so compacted. To install this French drain system you do everything exactly as explained above, except instead of draining the water to a lower area, you can send it in any direction you like. Even in the direction from which it came, which is uphill.
When installing this type of system, it's a good idea to dig a number of shorter trenches, all heading away from the area where the water stands. Using the line level, make sure your trenches fall away from their point of origin so once the water enters the pipes it will flow away from the wet spot. What is going to happen is that during times of heavy rain the low area is still going to trap water, but much of that water is going to seep into the drain pipes and eventually leach into the soil under each trench.
Because this soil has not been compacted by the standing water and the baking sun, it will accept the water. It won't happen nearly as fast as if you could just drain the water to a ditch, but at least you will have a mechanism in place that will eventually disperse the water back into the soil. It's a lot easier to leach 200 gallons of water into a series of trenches that total 100 lineal feet, than it is to expect that water to leach into a 10' by 10' area that is hard and compact.
Maintenance Tip #1 - Preparing the water heater. Turn off the power if its an electric water heater. Turn off the water to the water heater by closing the valve on the cold water line. Its located on top of the water heater. The cold line is always to the right. Open a hot water tap inside the house. Air pressure will come out of the tap. Open the drain valve located at the bottom of the water heater. It looks like a hose bibb. Let a gallon or more out of the water heater. Do not allow anyone to use hot water for the time you are working on the water heater.
Maintenance Tip #2 - Overhead clearance. Anode rods are almost as tall as the water heater itself. More often than not the ceiling is too close to the top of the water heater to be able to pull the entire anode rod out. No matter, lift the anode rod up as far as you can. Check to see if their is any flaking on the surface or any of its core wire is exposed. If not, then you can reinstall the anode as is. Most of the anode rods problems occur at its top because that's where most of the hot water is. If you need to remove an anode rod. Bend it in the middle against the water heater's opening and pull it out. To put a new one in, simply bend it in the middle again and straighten it out at the opening. If the anode top is wobbly when you try to screw it in, pull it half way again and attempt to straighten it as much as possible. If the overhead clearance is less than 2 feet, buy a link-type anode rod. It has "sausage" links of metal attached together. Its very easy to install.
Maintenance Tip #3 - Choosing anodes and replacing anodes. There are three types of metals used to make anode rods. They are magnesium, aluminum, and zinc. If you have naturally soft water, you should install a magnesium anode. Aluminum is used when you have very hard water or water that is softened heavily with salts. Installing an aluminum anode after you discover your previous anode has deteriorated heavily is recommended. If you install a magnesium anode after finding a heavily deteriorated anode could cause a negative reaction in the water and cause pressure to release out of the households faucets. If you have to install an aluminum anode rod, avoid using the hot water to cook with. Modern science believes that aluminum in the water can cause Alzheimer's disease. Don't consume any hot water. Zinc anodes are rare to find already installed in a water heater. Zinc anodes are used to counteract the effects of sulfur smells in the water. Zinc anodes are only 10% actual zinc. The rest is aluminum. Do not consume or cook with a zinc anode any more than an aluminum one. If the rod bends easily in your hands, it is aluminum, if not it is magnesium. Anodes have a protective current of about two feet. Buy anode rods that are too tall for your water heater. Cut them down if you have to. Try to buy anodes that are more than 3 feet and 8 inches.
Maintenance Tip #4 - Add a second anode rod. If your water heater has an exposed hexagonal-shaped head on top of it, you can install another anode rod for more protection for the water heater. Provided the hex-head exists, unscrew the hot water outlet. It's the pipe on top of the water heater on the left. This is where you can install a combination anode rod. Make sure the anode rod has a brass nipple that is 2 to 6 inches long. Hire a plumber to do this or look for the information in my article on anode rods. Warning: Adding a second anode can be quite a task.
Maintenance Tip #5 - Removing sediment. There are three signs you have sediment buildup in your tank: A lower element burnout if you have an electric water heater, A lot of noise if you have a gas water heater, or a foul odor coming from both types of water heaters. If the sediment piles up high enough, the lower heating element in an electric water heater will be covered and unable to heat water. If your hot water suddenly starts to run out long before it used to and you have an electric water heater, then its probably sediment build-up. Gas water heaters get covered up by sediment down at the bottom where the flame heats the burner plate. Water gets covered by sediment and becomes superheated steam. This expansive steam releases pressure that sounds like a loud row happening inside. If you smell a sulfur odor coming from the water heater, that's due to sediment build-up which breeds foul smell bacteria inside of it. To rid yourself of these problems, install a curved dip tube. You can also have a plumber use a special expensive Muck-vac tool. Dissolving the sediment is another option. Also, if you have an electric water heater, you can use a shopvac to suck the sediment out through the lower heating element. The how-to of these approaches is just below this sentence.
Maintenance Tip #6 - Install a curved dip tube and flush the water heater. When you buy a water heater, it usually comes with a straight dip tube. The dip tube is the piece of plastic pipe inside your water heater that extends from the top of the water heater's cold water inlet to the bottom of the water heater. It's job is to get the coldest water near the bottom where it can be readily heated. Sediment forms at the bottom of the water heater and does not move at all except at the small portion of the water heater where the dip tube extends to at the bottom. The water coming out of the tube pushes the sediment away. Trying to wash the sediment out of the drain valve on the outside of the water heater is also impossible. Installing a curved dip tube where the bottom of the tube curves to a ninety degree angle, causes the bottom of the water heater to be swept by the incoming cold water. Sediment is picked up and kept in suspension in the water. Opening the drain valve and letting cold water enter the water heater for 5 minutes can clear up a lot of sediment. Installing a curved dip tube starts by unscrewing the cold water nipple. It's the pipe on top of the water heater on the right hand side. Stick a curved handled set of pliers in the hole of the cold water inlet and twist the dip tube up and out of the water heater. Get the dip tube high enough and you can pull it out by hand. If this doesn't work and the hole is rusty, scrape the rust away first. Take the new curved dip tube and mark it at the top on the side that the curve points. Wrap the top of the curved dip tube where you will be screwing it in at the top with teflon tape about eight times. Insert the curved dip tube and point it so that water will swirl along the side of the water heater. Also point it the direction going away from the drain valve. The drain valve is located on the outside of the water heater at the bottom. Make sure it is fully open when draining the water heater. If you use another method to clean the sediment out of your water heater, you should still install a curved dip tube. Optimum flushing should be done every six months or even more often.
Maintenance Tip # 7 - Removing sediment with a muck vac. Hire a plumber to use this tool to remove the sediment from your water heater. The tool is expensive and takes some knowledge on how to use. This is the most hands off method to remove sediment there is.
Both Josiah Smart & John Haynes are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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