A
resident of Columbia, Missouri was plagued by soggy soil around his
house. Getting his lawn and shrubs to flourish was a losing battle.
Not that this was an uncommon problem in his area! The thick Missouri
clay in Columbia might be great for pottery, bricks, and tile but
it is disastrous for drainage. The upper left photo documents the
result of a downpour prior to the Multi-Flow solution.
The homeowner carefully researched his options and
decided on a Multi-Flow system. After drawing up a plan and parts
list he enlisted the help of a general handyman to do the installing.
Painted lines on the grass identified the trench paths. A Bobcat
trencher made short work of the trenching and the spoil was soon
removed.
Separate trenches were cut for drain tile to carry away the water
from the down spouts. There are at least two reasons for this practice.
If the Multi-Flow collectors are busy carrying away roof water they
are less available for desaturating soil. And contaminants from
the roof and eve troughs might block up the collector lines.
After all the collector lines were installed, they
ended up at an elevation too high for gravity flow into the storm
sewer. Consequently, the collected water was emptied into a sump
pit and pumped into the storm sewer from there.
When
the photo below at the right was taken, the relandscaping had not
yet occurred but the drainage system was in place and functioning
flawlessly even through some unusually heavy fall rains. Minimal
surface disruption occurred and with clean sand backfill surrounding
the system, it should continue to perform for many years to come.
