Great yard drainage is vital to keeping your property in pristine condition. You can’t control stormy weather, but you can protect your property from its wrath wreaking havoc on your lawn and causing irrevocable damage to your home or commercial property.
Storm water drains can be key to ensuring residential and commercial properties, along with city streets and walkways, don’t flood or get overwhelmed with debris and pollutants every time rain falls.
Although you can implement a DIY storm drain, storm water drain design depends on a variety of factors, including the topography and measurements of your yard, landscape features, and where your home or business is situated on your property. Yard drainage specialists have experience, professional tools, and other resources that can ensure your storm drains work correctly.
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What is a storm drain?
A storm drain is similar to a basic yard drain — both divert excess water from flooding your yard and threatening your property. However, storm drains may connect to a larger drainage system throughout your neighborhood, town, or city.
Storm water drains are specifically designed to prevent flooding and carry stormwater runoff and snowmelt, especially from hardscapes and streets, directly to a waterway. Yard drains are designed to collect and divert excess surface water.
Storm water drain design strategically includes environmental protections, filters, and allowances for storm water to go untreated before it travels to a nearby waterway. The design also includes a metal grate covering that can keep large pieces of debris from traveling through drain channels.
How does a storm water drain work and where does storm drain water go?
A storm drain collects water runoff from rain and snow storms and directs it to a river, bay, ocean, or other body of water located near you. Storm drains are often installed and maintained by the local government, and located on curbs or street corners.
However, you may have storm water drains installed in your backyard and other areas of your property.
Here’s how a storm drain works:
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- Collects excess water from driveways, gutters, streets, and walkways
- Metal grates at a storm drain’s entrance block large pollutants, like rocks and branches, from clogging drainage channels and pipes
- The untreated water then travels directly through underground channels, catch basins, drainage ditches, and pipes to the nearest body of water
Difference between a storm drain and a sewer
Storm water drains and sewers are often mistaken for each other, but are not the same thing. Storm water drains can be connected to a sewer system, but more often they are entirely different, but equally necessary, drainage systems.
A sewer system carries wastewater from residential and commercial properties to a treatment facility where the water is filtered and cleaned. A storm water drain directly channels rainwater and snowmelt to waterways without treatment.
Are storm water drains connected to sewers?
In short, no. Storm water drain design allows storm drains to operate as a standalone drainage system. Most cities and municipalities ensure sewers and storm drains are entirely separate. However, when a storm water drain and a sewer are combined into a single system, all water is directed to a treatment plant.
There are drawbacks to this combination, though. The sheer amount of water that travels through the pipes of a combined system can cause them to overflow and burst. When pipes burst, the water can escape and travel to rivers, bays, and oceans without filtration.
If sewage water makes it into a waterway without treatment, the water can become heavily contaminated and polluted.
Why storm water drains are important
Storm water drains are vital to preventing the flooding of streets, parking lots and walkways, can protect roofs from significant damage, and help to protect infrastructure from the elements. Nevertheless, storm water drain design has disadvantages as well.
Here are some of the benefits and challenges of storm drains.
Benefits of storm water drains
The benefits of storm water drains include the following:
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- Environmental protection by replenishing natural water supply
- Filter water that may end up in reservoirs that supply your drinking water
- Flood prevention
- Foundation protection
- Landscape protection
Challenges of storm water drains
Storm water drain design doesn’t prevent detergent, engine oil, fertilizers, paints, pet waste, yard debris, and other trash from entering the storm drain and landing in waterways.
If contaminated storm water enters waterways, its pollutants can make drinking water unsafe, harm wildlife, and prevent recreational activities like boating, fishing, paddleboarding, and swimming. To decrease these pollutants, avoid dumping waste like grass clippings and soap into a storm water drain on or near your property.
How to know if you need a storm drain on your property
Storm water drains in your backyard may be necessary if every rainfall creates floodlike conditions in your yard, you notice soil erosion on your property, your hardscapes experience significant stormwater runoff, water constantly pools by your structural foundation, or if local regulations mandate a storm drain based on your property’s size and layout.
If you think you may need storm water drains in your backyard, you may want to schedule a consultation with excellent local landscape drainage specialists.
5 best storm water drain designs
If you determine that you do need storm drains in your backyard, professional yard drainage experts can manage the design, strategic planning, and implementation for you.
Storm water drain design for your property consists of a system of catch basins, underground pipes, and possibly dry wells to collect rainwater and snowmelt and direct them away from houses, commercial buildings, and other structures.
The yard drainage design you may already utilize can often be used for storm drains as well. Let’s take a look at the five best options for storm water drain designs.
Catch Basins
Catch basins might be strategically placed throughout your property and are considered extremely effective storm water drainage systems. A catch basin consists of an underground concrete container that’s covered with a surface level metal grate.
A catch basin captures debris and pollutants that flow into the drain along with water runoff, and are connected to an underground metal pipe that allows storm water to drain into a series of pipes that flow to local waterways.
Channel Drains
Channel drains are designed to manage water runoff from driveways, parking lots, patios, sidewalks, and other hard surfaces. This storm water drain design option is a great choice for commercial properties, or residential properties that incorporate many hardscapes as landscaping features.
The channel drain consists of a long, narrow trough covered by a metal grate. The trough directs storm water away from your property and into a retention pond or sewer system.
French Drains
French drains are one of the most popular options for residential yard drainage, and they’re great storm water drains as well. Requiring little to no maintenance, this cost effective storm water drain design.
A French drain incorporates underground catch basins that collect storm water, and a series of perforated pipes covered by gravel. This drainage system diverts excess water away from the foundation of your home or commercial building, and channels it to a designated drainage point.
Permeable Pavement
Permeable pavement is a subtle and eco-friendly storm water drain design that you can quickly implement. Consider replacing standard asphalt or concrete surfaces with their permeable counterparts.
Other permeable pavement options include grass pavers, gravel pavers, and open-joint bricks. This storm water drainage design absorbs and filters excess water as it slowly drains into the ground.
Trench Drains
Trench drains are the most popular storm water drain design. These drains are typically incorporated into hard surface areas such as long driveways or parking lots. A trench drain is a long, wide, and sloped concrete or stainless steel trench covered by metal grating.
A trench drain blocks large debris from flowing to local waterways, prevents standing water, and protects landscapes from erosion.
Founded in Naperville, Illinois over twenty years ago, family-owned and operated Ware Landscaping is dedicated to helping our Chicago area neighbors create the yards of their dreams. We’re passionate about offering the best landscape and drainage solutions to meet your unique needs.
Connect with us if you’re in need of storm water drain design, and check out our website to discover our comprehensive services.
