how to detect leak in storm drain?

How can I determine if the in-ground storm drain hose has a leak? It is a flexible plastic hose of about 4" diameter.

Someone suggested this might be a cause of my wet crawlspace, since the water from the gutter goes into these drain hoses, if they leak, then water would get into the crawlspace.

Reply to
peter
Loading thread data ...

where is it taking the roof water? you could nspect the next vented trap downstream from it for noise as you run hose water in it. you could dig it up at the house and replace its trap if it is broken perhaps from freezing if its trap is not below the frost line. rainwater is a definite maybe, so find out where it's supposed to go, far away from the house.

Reply to
buffalobill

Do you have access to both ends? If so you could pour water into one end and see that it comes out at the other. A 4" pipe should be able to drain quite a lot of water, pretty quickly. If you start pumping a lot of water into it and you don't quickly see the same amount coming out the other end then something's not right. Water tries to take the easiest way downhill, if the hose is unobstructed and it slopes properly then not much should leak out.

I'm betting that pipe's gotten clogged. Using that sort of pipe for permanent drainage is problematic, at best. It's rather tough clean it out once it's gotten clogged with sticks and leaves, to say nothing of how roots might have gotten into it.

How do these hoses run?

Reply to
wkearney99

You will need to pour water into the drain on a dry day and see if any water intrusion happens in the basement or if the drain will overflow if saturated quickly. You could also have the pipe augered just as you would a waste/drain. Root intrususion is not uncommon and will allow small amounts of water to drain but will cause a backup and overflow during a big storm. Your problem may also be unrelated and the water may be coming from somewhere else. A hole underground would not allow all that much water to escape as compared to what the storm is dropping. A clog is more likely. If the underground pipe is really drain pipe, it should be full of holes that may have clogged from leaf debris and no longer can empty fast enough causing overflow during a storm.

After you fix it, install a leaf trap (a strainer in line with the downspout) to keep decaying leaves out of the drain pipe (unless it does spill directly into the street or something)

Many possibilities without knowing more

Reply to
PipeDown

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.