Hey guys. I'm going to do a job where we're digging a 4-5 foot deep by about 14 inch trench 160 feet long. This will be filled with 1 or 3" clear gravel. The homeowner wants this done to try and divert underground water to another location. My question is this: Would you bother putting any pipe in with the gravel? I'm thinking there's so much gravel in the trench the pipe's not going to do much. Thanks.
I was always taught the pipe was an essential part of the drain, so I'd put it in. I'd probably catch hellll from some of my family members if they found out I took a shortcut and left out the pipe :laugh Labor and materials are probably less than $200, so it doesn't add too much to the bill.
I would say the same put the pipe ,stone and fabric to keep the silt out
Theoretically, the pipe isn't necessary, but if the stone becomes contaminated anywhere in the ditch, the water can't escape. The pipe insures a clear path for the water to flow past any contamination so only a small section isn't working if it happens. To take it a step further, you could wrap the pipe with a silt sock to eliminate the possibilty of pipe contamination. Also, it would help if you lined the ditch with filter fabric before filling with stone.
last year i was wyeing another leg of a field drain into one i had installed around 20 years ago - no filter fabric - 2b gravel and 4" ads pipe. the 2b gravel in that area was silted higher than the pipe, but the pipe was relatively clean. 160' of ads pipe will only be around $75
I agree, use the pipe. We always use filter fabric and also wrap the pipe with a filter sock for added protection. Remember to keep the holes facing down too.
Thanks for the replies so far guys. I'll throw another wrench into the mix. When would one tend to use solid rather than flexible pipe? This trench isn't going to be very straight for very long so the flexible pipe would work better although the solid is probabaly a better choice for holding up for years to come.
The black corregated ADS pipe is more economical than the white PVC pipe, and there's really no difference in performance in this application. You need the rigid PVC when installing septic lines, but for gathering water the ADS does just fine. The pipe will be buried deep enough where the difference in rigidity will not make a difference in durability.