I have an issue! Pun intended.
I own a property on an urban housing estate built into a hillside in the 80s. The large-ish back garden is tiered into several levels with low, retaining blockwork walls filled with earth/gravel beds.
Recently, a small spring has emerged near the top of the garden. Not a huge flow, but imagine a constant trickle from a tap. This has caused the lower bed to fill with water to the brim, and as it overflows there's a constant inch-deep puddle on the patio at ground level next to the back of the house.
There are weep holes drilled at the bases of the low walls, but the blockwork has still cracked in several places.
I had a reputable builder/groundworker/drainage guy come out to look at it yesterday, but he was at a loss for what to do. He said there was nowhere and no way to redirect the flow. Neither could he offer any suggestions for who to speak to or where to go for more help.
When I bought the house 13 years ago, it was all bone-dry. No water issue. Four years ago there was a tiny, occasional trickle from a weep hole onto the patio, so I had an aco drain installed which took the flow under the patio to the drain at the back of the house.
Builder guy yesterday said the new flow is too much to legally divert down the drain.
WTF do I do?
Someone a few doors down has a much bigger problem (imagine a gushing tap), but a 2-inch weep hole in their garden wall is directing their water off their land to the side, across the pavement, into the gutter, and down the road and across a t-junction. Not sure how legal that is. It's a lot of water and will be an ice rink if/when it freezes.
Sounds horrid. Sorry, no real advice other than to check the water is spring (ie fresh) rather than tap as tap water could be directed at your water supply company.
With 2 houses affected, that does sound like a big problem. Any way of checking whether it's the same spring?
Any building works gone on uphill of you?
Reservoir been built nearby?
I did wonder if it's a burst water main further uphill but apparently it's been ongoing since the long hot summer. (I'm the landlord. Neither the tenant nor the agent told me this had happened). I've lived there on and off but not for the last three years.
There must be a simple way to test if it's spring water or mains water??
As above I'd be looking at the cause as much as the symptoms - that does sounds like there's a leak somewhere
I’d get a builder to divert it down the drain tbh.
We are in a similar position but we know where the water which is saturating our garden and preventing water to run off from the gutters is coming from - out of the sky and then down the hills to us!. Where we are the ground is saturated at the moment and previously working soakways aren’t working. When the conditions are a bit better we will be clearing ditches and installing drains to divert the flow. YGeographyMV
What is up hill from the back of your property?
More houses?
There must be a simple way to test if it's spring water or mains water??
not simple really as it will depend where you are, the local geology/soil type and distance from likely leak.
I've done some investigations previously looking at an analytical suite like this:
- VOC - Chlorination of mains water should lead to halogenated volatile compounds, in addition chloride may be present, although it tends not to be persistent unless the source is close by.
- pH - Mains water pH should be up to about 8, groundwater is likely to be less (for Scotland).
- Alkalinity – mains water tends to be artificially softened
- Electrical Conductivity – to evaluate water hardness from above
- Al, Mg, Mn, Fe, Ca – as hardness indicator components
- Phosphate – to evaluate addition of lead control compounds.
- Chloride – included but may not be detectable as dissipates quickly.
in England you may add fluoride, if the water company adds it, though as with chloride, it isn't that persistent when leaked.
For the several comparisons I've done none have been particularly conclusive, more of a stronger lean one way or other.
I did wonder if it's a burst water main further uphill but apparently it's been ongoing since the long hot summer.
Our neighbour had a [running tap size] leak coming out of his garden and onto the road for easily 6-8 months before it was finally fixed.
I'd say it's worth speaking to your water provider to see if there's anything they're aware of. Other than that I have no real advice I'm afraid but keep an eye on the retaining walls in your garden.
I did wonder if it's a burst water main further uphill but apparently it's been ongoing since the long hot summer. (I'm the landlord. Neither the tenant nor the agent told me this had happened). I've lived there on and off but not for the last three years.
There must be a simple way to test if it's spring water or mains water??
Your water company will test it, FOC, if you ask. Report it as a leak and they'll go from there
That does sound like a leak somewhere.
Without knowing your land I'd be thinking about some temporary (at least) perforated pipe/drainage pipe to try and minimise the amount of water getting near your house and saturating the soil
Is the existing drain you mentioned blocked, even partially?
I did wonder if it's a burst water main further uphill but apparently it's been ongoing since the long hot summer.
a significant new natural spring appearing during a long hot summer sounds a lot less likely than very dry/then wet soil contracting expanding enough to burst a pipe.
Recently, a small spring has emerged near the top of the garden.
I used to live in a house built into a hillside. Over time the land drains around the house must have got blocked and altered their course. We had a spring erupt through a downstairs wall that backed onto soil once.
I found a large trench, uphill of the house, dug across the back of the building in a field. It was completely full and overgrown. My neighbour who had been there for decades did acknowledge that it used to be cleared regularly... I kept it clear and the problems were reduced.
a significant new natural spring appearing during a long hot summer sounds a lot less likely than very dry/then wet soil contracting expanding enough to burst a pipe.
+1, my thoughts too.
Do you live close the property? Can you go exploring with a spade?
If you do, take pictures before, and as you go, in case you're accused of causing the issue by your digging.
double post
The first action is to determine if it's a leak or groundwater / redistributed water. As others have said, report the leak to your Utility Company and also raise an enquiry with you Lead Local Flood Authority https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council The latter along the lines of, a new emergence has occurred in my garden, a few photos, can the LLFA confirm the likely source? And go from there. As others have said, most of England is in drought or prolonged dry weather, so groundwater aquifer is very unlikely. But disturbance to pathways, aquifer, from lack of maintenance or building works is possible, as is a water main leak.
As for immediate what to do to stop building damage, you just need to ensure you are not increasing flood risk to another property or land downstream. Having a pipe to take discharge to a Highways drain is a temporary measure and you might be told off by Highways/Local Authority, but that moves the conversation along.
Also you do need to tell your buildings insurer. It may actually be helpful if they will do some legwork. (My hunch is a leak)
Be persistent. Good luck.
Have a look at the geologly map for the area. More specifically a drift map. A spring needs a source. What you describe could be a drift source spring.
Monitor flow. Just time how long it takes to fil a bucket - mains leaks are constant and springs will vary in flow. Keep a record and plot a graph.
Find someone who does water divining . They should be able to find areas of water under a feild . Give you a clue as where to look / dig . Moisture meter might help , but with the amount of rain it may be unreliable
Otherwise , falling french drain between patio and grass are might help or big soakaway
Water divining is a good shout. The senior partner at the practice I used to work at did it, and it seemed to work 🤔. Other than that I would focus on what's going on uphill of your garden. Something has changed and it seems unlikely to be due to exceptionally wet weather. Burst water main, broken drain, a land drain which is no longer functioning as it has been blocked or diverted, a new surface water attenuation feature.........
If you have downpipes nearby from the gutter you could connect a pipe to get the water away.
If you have a side access on sides of house create a landdrain/ perferrated pipe to get the ground water away and past the house.
You may need to create more weep holes as there must be water presssure behind the wall to create the cracking. Or.dig behind the wall. Put in a perfarated pipe in shingle and pipe it so water is removed from behind the wall and to one of the above ideas.
A good experienced groundworker should be able to advise on this issue.
Update.
Spent much of the last two days on the phone and haven't slept a great deal, TBF.
Got an inspector coming out on Monday AM to determine whether it's a spring or burst pipe.
However, I discovered the guy a few doors down with the 'gusher' (mine is a 'small trickle') was tested in October and his is a spring.
Started a claim with my insurer, though even if that *is* successful, it'll probably only cover rebuilding the blockwork, not installing the new drainage or groundwork.
Had some extra weep holes drilled at the bases of some of the retaining blockwork to relieve some of the pressure.
Sadly, there's no Surface Water drain on my property: the guttering at roof level, both front and back, feeds into my neighbour's guttering and down his downpipes. FML.
Fairly sure the soil is too clay-y for French drains or soakaways. Also not a lot of room to manoeuvre. Run-off will have to go down the side of the house and into the street.
However, I've discovered there is a 'Separate' Sewer System (not 'Combined') in the road just outside the front gate which apparently is good news, so it could feed into the surface water drain which then feeds directly into the river about 100m away. Apparently that's very lucky. Another positive (I'm told) is that the area is well-mapped for underground utilities.
Not sure if a slot/cross drain can be installed in the pavement outside my front gate to direct the flow into the gutter to avoid digging up the road. That would seem (to me) the simplest solution once all the drainage on my land is in place. It is only a trickle, after all.
Any tips for dealing with insane amounts of stress? Spinning quite a lot of other serious plates at the mo. Don't need this.
Any tips for dealing with insane amounts of stress? Spinning quite a lot of other serious plates at the mo. Don't need this.
Sorry, no tips about stress here. But if it is spring water, bottle it and sell it?
Any tips for dealing with insane amounts of stress? Spinning quite a lot of other serious plates at the mo. Don't need this.
Sorry, no tips about stress here. But if it is spring water, bottle it and sell it?
Think that's now the sixth time someone has suggested that to me. 
so it could feed into the surface water drain which then feeds directly into the river about 100m away
Be careful, You can't just bung land drainage into the SW sewer and out to the river. Doing this could be in contravention of the Land Drainage Act 1991 (as amended). You will need approval from whoever 'owns' the sewer, that could be Local Authority (LLFA or highways) or Water Authority, and potentially whoever governs the river flows, LLFA/IDB/EA.
Not sure if a slot/cross drain can be installed in the pavement outside my front gate to direct the flow into the gutter to avoid digging up the road. That would seem (to me) the simplest solution once all the drainage on my land is in place. It is only a trickle, after all.
You also can't do this without relevant approvals from highways, even if it does seem like a good idea. Same as you need approvals for a dropped kerb.
Drainage systems will be designed for a runoff from certain impermeable areas and if you start adding random land drainage then it screw up the calcs, which can lead to areas getting flooded. If it then gets traced back to you.....
"Be careful, You can't just bung land drainage into the SW sewer and out to the river. You will need approval from whoever 'owns' the sewer, that could be Local Authority (LLFA or highways) or Water Authority."
Yep, I appreciate that. It's the sewerage authority. I need to apply and get a 106 agreement.
"You also can't do this without relevant approvals from highways"
Yep, I appreciate that too. 👍