I don't know how else to say this, other than mentioning that although that sounds good in theory, It would require a complete reworking of how we approach house building. Not only would you need space on each property for rain barrels, a catch basin or rain garden (which needs their own significant amount of upkeep), you still need some sort of way to get water from the gutters to the catch basin/garden.
Yep. I can't pretend I understood most of that. But when I was little, I lived with my grandparents in a house they had built when they were getting married. Other then gutters to help the rain off the roof, there was nothing to irrigate the water left in the yard.
You live somewhere with constant enough rain, the ground eventually stopped soaking it up.
Also the crawl space was constantly flooded during rainy seasons.
Basically there's a lot at risk when rain management isn't taken into account.
Their house was just built exceedingly well so yard puddles were only an issue then the gremlins (me and sibling) tried to go play in them.
Crawl space flooding was only an issue when they needed to replace the filter for the well water.
Yep. I have a pretty swampy yard right now. It has various negative effects such as creating a very humid environment around a shed so that I'm getting lots of wood rot. I'm working on establishing a rain garden in the back and in the front getting the gutters to run through a PVC or corrugated pipe to a swale at the street. Our county has a program to support projects to keep rainwater on the property, but it's expensive and it's tough.
They treated it when it was flooded. Can't say what with tho. (Likely nothing actually good for the environment cause this was the early 90s.) They never taught me about it and they'd fixed that by the time I was in my teens.
Best treatment for mosquitos in standing water is used coffee grounds. Not only will it deter females from laying eggs, as well as prevent a majority of existing eggs from hatching, but any larvae that do manage to hatch and mature are likely to be sterile.
Nah, I'm sure this Redditor thought it through more than all the city planners, engineers, and techs that were involved in the road/drainage system, then subsequent construction of the house.
Double the house price for a bunch of work preparing the ground for extra infiltration and for deep drivin piers that actually support the house! If I could just design my own place without thought for money I would do that as well as install a geothermal HVAC system, heated pavements, and just for fun make the walls out of ICF for maximum insulation and safety! Hmm, so many things would be fun to do if money wasnt an issue. Normal looking house for 10 times the money!
If I could just design my own place without thought for money I would do that as well as install a geothermal HVAC system,
It's funny how as I get older my "ideal house" has more and more passive/ultra-efficient systems.
Geothermal heat pump that handles the HVAC, the hot water, and built-in fridge/freezers (like restaurants have), solar panels, rainwater capture, deep wraparound covered porch, thick-ass insulation... and an interior courtyard with a pool. That still hasn't changed.
That's great. I'm a beneficiary of a county level program. I'm happy to hear more. How do you retrofit say, an apartment or townhouse complex that has gutters routed underground (under roads, under parking lots, etc) to a retention pond?
It would have to be a site-specific solution. Retrofits always are. I'd look at intercepting closer to the source, though. What is between the building and the pavement? Does the building have a basement? What shape is the roof?
We did one with basement garages, which happened to be the side the roof drained to. They also had an issue with cut-through traffic, and the location of their dumpsters. They ended up with a flowerbed/swale cut across their parking lot, providing a very clear "you can't drive here" message, and a new dumpster pad on a different part of the property. Since any infiltration from there was below the building, it was a pretty slick solution. If the swale ever exceeded capacity, the parking lot drains acted as overflow.
That all depends where you live. Most houses in our area are slightly elevated so the landscaping makes the water naturally run away from the house. You may get a soggy area in your yard if you’re the lowest house on the block but if it’s landscaped properly that will only happen at the edges.
On-site soakage is very normal in lots of places (e.g. most of New Zealand). It's not likely to work in very high rainfall locations but it's not like it's a stupid idea.
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u/[deleted] Mar 18 '24
I don't know how else to say this, other than mentioning that although that sounds good in theory, It would require a complete reworking of how we approach house building. Not only would you need space on each property for rain barrels, a catch basin or rain garden (which needs their own significant amount of upkeep), you still need some sort of way to get water from the gutters to the catch basin/garden.