Question about down spots for the house

[Eryl Flynn]

I am thinking of connecting my down spouts on the house to a pipe, run it under ground a bit to a catch basin with a grate. That way I don't have things over my grass, in the way and looking like crap getting dinged up all the time. I saw them install some thing like this on a show where they installed a garden/patio area that was lower than the ground level. I am wondering if any one knows if this is a good idea, or even possible to do?

[deadjeep]

That's my plan this year with the new gutters. Works great if you have the slope for the pipe

[Yota]

I thought catch basins or cisterns were technically illegal because the city wants the excess to run off and be collected in reservoirs for the water supply? Not that I agree with this at all and not that you couldn't implement a solution that makes it nigh on impossible to detect. :)

Seems like there was a thread on this a long time ago but my memory sucks.

[Eryl Flynn]

I think they are to a point, but in this case it isn't to catch the water and keep it, the water will overflow into the area once full and evaporate what is not let go. I guess you could have drains in the bottom of it to allow it to slowly release the water. So the plan is not to capture the rain and use it, just a different way to run the water away.

How much slope do you need deadjeep?

[CSP]

1/4" of drop per horizontal foot of run.

As long as the ground at your exit point is lower than the ground at the foundation this is the only way to go. You just don't want the water to roll back towards the house.

[newracer]

I did it on my house before the landscaping went in. You do not need much slope at all, something like 1/4" per 1'. Mine all go to pop-up end caps for the pipe. The end caps also have drain holes in the bottom of them.

[Eryl Flynn]

Sounds like a plan to me then. Have to go down to HD or Lowes and take a look at my options. And start a plan for putting it in place as the weather warms up. Thanks guys!

[Yota]

Yeah there's nothing illegal about making sure your rainwater is distributed and used in the most efficient manner.

Frankly, I don't understand why houses can't be built or retrofitted with cisterns. Why should I water my grass with potable water when I could collect a couple hundred gallons of non-potable rainwater and store/use that during the dry spells?

Seems like more government stupidity to me.

[newracer]

Because you don't own that water. The people downstream do.

[Eryl Flynn]

Because you don't own that water. The people downstream do.

I know that is the case technically, but I just got thinking. If it is owned by those down stream, then if the water leaks into my house and damages some thing, isn't the owners of that water that caused the damage responsibility to fix the damage? And if the water is not thiers until it hits the ground, then if I collect it first it isn't thiers.

[teamextreme]

It's called a french drain. You run corrugated, perferated pipe underground surrounded by rock to allow the water to flow out. You're not collecting the water, you're just allowing it to absorb into the ground in a different location, no different than the downspout you have now.

[Steve]

Frankly, I don't understand why houses can't be built or retrofitted with cisterns. Why should I water my grass with potable water when I could collect a couple hundred gallons of non-potable rainwater and store/use that during the dry spells?

It's state law here and in many western states. Why? Because almost all of the surface water in the state is legally owned by somebody, and almost all of that water comes from precipitation. So, in a technical legal sense, it would be stealing. May not make sense if you're from where it rains a whole lot, but it does make some sense in parts of the western U.S.