Water, Water, Everywhere
Doylestown has had no shortage of rain in the past year. Where surfaces are concrete or ordinary grass, rain water will move quickly, eroding soil and hardscaping and pooling at the lowest points where it may sit on the surface for a long time before absorbing into the ground. For many homeowners, this creates a multitude of problems; for the homeowner with the low spot in his or her yard it can mean that ponds appear during heavy rainfall periods that take days or weeks to subside and may even be wet for most of the year.
Many neighbor disputes arise when storm water from gutters, sump pumps, and lawn runoff infiltrates basements and washes out landscaping. As a result, residents often contact the Borough to ask us what we can do about their neighbor’s water coming on to their property. The answer is the Borough can do very little unless there is a current construction project going on at the site. However, there are many things that the homeowners can do to mitigate the problem and the Borough is happy to assist property owners and neighbors who want to work together to resolve the issue.
As a general guide, in Pennsylvania you can not do anything to cause more water to run onto your neighbors yard than would naturally do so. Water should flow over your property in a natural fashion you cannot increase the rate of runoff. You also cannot collect up your water and pump it or divert it through a pipe to the edge of your property line so that the pipe flows out on to your neighbor’s yard.
Dumping the water from your property on to the street and in to the storm drains is a last resort because that does not solve the problem but instead shifts the problem from your property to your downhill neighbors, particularly those that live stream side and in the process it adds to environmental and water quality degradation.
The best possible answer so many stormwater issues is to utilize a combination of methods to slow the flow of the water and increase infiltration. Methods that can easily be worked into most Doylestown yards include:
Rain Gardens – If you have a low spot in your property that often has standing water a rain garden may be the perfect solution. A rain garden is a special flower and plant garden that is designed to catch rain water. Rain gardens can be simple to create and maintain and can absorb many times the amount of water that spot will when it is just lawn. Click here for more information on creating a rain garden and how they work.
Seepage pits - A seepage pit, sometimes called a dry well, is a subsurface pit or container that temporarily stores storm water, often from roofs and down spouts and then allows that water to infiltrate in to the soil. Perforated drain pipe and seepage trenches can be used together to manage down spout outflow. Click here for more information on creating a seepage pit and how they work.
Vegetated swales and infiltration trenches – Swales are broad shallow areas that are planted with vegetation to slow and hold storm water so it can soak back into the ground. They can be combined with infiltration trenches for more significant water problems. A combination swale and trench can often resolve larger areas of swampy ground that receive sump water from more than one home. Click here for more informaiton on creating vegetated swales and how they work.
Rain Barrels – Rain barrels are used to harvest and store water that runs off a roof to use later to water plants. In addition to helping with runoff they reduce water bills by providing free water for lawn and garden use. Click here for rain barrel information.
Grassy lawns are not much better than concrete in terms of ability to slow flow of water and absorb water during a storm. Even simple well placed garden beds that are kept well mulched can help slow the flow of storm water and dry things out more quickly. Trees also help to absorb water after a storm, so planting additional trees on a property is worthy of consideration. If you are planning a patio, driveway or other larger scale construction project, be sure to investigate options for managing water on your property.
Please call the Borough if you would like more information on stormwater management. You can also checkout these useful links:
STORM WATER LINKS
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Links
EPA Links
About Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Permits
The Borough of Doylestown has a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). This permit regulates the Borough's storm sewer system and requires Doylestown to implement a storm water management program. This includes six program elements called "Minimum Control Measures" which, when implemented together, are designed to result in significant reductions of pollutants discharged from its storm sewer system and into receiving water bodies. The Minimum Control Measures are listed below with links to the EPA's fact sheets, which outline the requirements.
How can you help with stormwater?
