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Check the external pipe once a year or so to make sure
it's still draining as the soil has moved around it. You
may need to adjust it occasionally. Once you've run
the piping over or through the foundation fill dirt, you
can put it in a trench that's 12-14 inches deep. If
you're running down a slope (rent a builder's level to
determine the amount of slope—sometimes you can't see it
just by looking at it), keep the trench the same depth
all the way. If your lot is level, you'll need to bury
the pipe deeper the further it runs. Let the depth
increase by 1/8th of an inch for every foot that the
pipes run on a fairly level lot.
If you are making a trench through your beloved lawn
or flower beds, you may want to have a helper drag a
sheet of thin plywood alongside the ditching machine as
you're digging the trench. The ditcher will throw out
dirt, which you can catch on the plywood, leaving the
rest of the ground neat. When the trench is done, you
can replace the dirt, or, if you're using gravel, move
the pile of dirt to another location, making a tidy job
of the whole thing.
If you live in a place where drought is a problem
either in the summer or year round, you may not want to
pipe your rain water away to disperse under its own
power. You may want to collect it and use it when the
dry times come. An average sort of rainfall on a
medium-sized roof can generate 1,500 gallons of water or
more—plenty for watering gardens and lawns, washing the
car in the summer, cooling the house on hot days—any
number of things you may need water for. A little extra
work can mean a savings of enough water to make your
life more comfortable without stressing your current
water supply or paying more for city water charges.
People who live in the country have always collected
storm water in cisterns, ponds or even rain barrels:
people who live in town can use some of the same
low-tech ideas for making the most of the water they get
for absolutely free!
Instead of piping water to a low lying place and
allowing it to drain away, you can pipe it into a large
storage container. You can use a pump to draw the water
out of the container when you need it, or if it's still
up the slope from where you want it, you can use a hose
and let gravity do the job. If you have the space, you
can create a pond for both storage and decorative
purposes.
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