Puzzled
Okay, I should be starting to work, but... I'm a little puzzled by some information that the Town Plumbing Inspector gave me this morning. And J isn't available yet (haha, tried to call him, but it went to voicemail), so you guys get to listen as I get it out of my system so I can work on permits for Missouri. *rolls eyes*
When I was in the process of buying my house last year, we had to have the Town Plumbing Inspector come out and certify that all was good with the sump pump discharge and sanitary sewer. The sump pump was fine, but he found that at least one of the underground drain pipes for the roof gutter drains was leaking into the sanitary sewer. Basically, he put some dye down it and found the dye in my neighbor's sewer inspection port. So, we had to cap off all the gutter drain pipes and dump the water on the ground next to the house. This really isn't a big deal... except in winter. Two of those downspouts discharge onto my driveway right in front of the back door and the garage and it makes a big skating rink out there during freeze/thaw cycles.
Naturally, I want to fix that. And, I want to dump the sump pump down that drain again, too. The alternate discharge at the front of the house has been messed up, and the water undercuts my front walkway. Not good. I don't want to have to pay to fix that again. And I just don't like water around the foundation of the house in general. I do have drain tiles, but it just makes me nervous.
Well, I also know that the underground pipes don't drain well. So, earlier this week I arranged for RotoRooter to come out and clean them up. *rolls eyes* This morning, I remembered that there was a cross tie or something and I started worrying that I was still going to be in violation. So, I called the Town to find out where I could get drawings of the underground pipes.
I spoke with the same Inspector who did the inspection last year, and he said something a little weird. He said that the pipes do not crosstie, but that both the sanitary sewer and the drain pipes seem to be leaking. The underground pipes are apparently clay tile. They can be damaged by plugging (which I know I have) or tree roots, etc. And my gutter drains don't tie into a neighborhood storm drain pipe, they dump into drain tiles at the street? Anyhow, he said that water is leaking out of my roof drain pipe, going down two or three feet, and getting into the sanitary line.
The engineer in me is going "Huh?" Unless the sanitary pipe is empty or under vacuum, how is storm water getting in there? It's not under pressure. Maybe a few inches of water pressure, but I would think that any water head pressure has been lost as the water worked its way through all the plugging and trickled down through the ground to the lower pipe. So how is it pushing it's way into the sanitary pipe? And if the sanitary pipe is cracked, shouldn't the town be fixing it? Maybe that's my responsibility... He didn't say.
Anyway, I'm confused. I know I've had a water leak (I think it was sanitary) up in the front yard before. I had a big sink hole, and the Town had to come and fix it. It was their pipe because I (or rather, my landlords) was never charged for the repair. Somehow, I'm willing to bet that's where the problem is. That, or a bit to the side where a tree used to be on the curb. There's never been a big tree there that I can remember. They can't get one to grow. Haha, we've given up trying to grow one there. But that's the only spot I know of that can have root damage.
Bush roots don't grow down three feet, right?
So, I'm trying to decide what to do. I think I'm still going to have Rotorooter come out on Saturday and clean the pipes. Maybe they can tell me if something is crushed. I think I'll also stop by the Town Building Office at lunch and pick up the underground drawings. J and I can pace out the front yard and see if we want to do some exploratory digging. If nothing else, it would be good information. I'm a big believer in having undergound drawings, hahaha.
Okay, now that that's outta my system for a while maybe I can go concentrate on these permits I need to fill out for Missouri. *sigh* Stupid permits. This information doesn't apply! It's not that type of pressure vessel! And why isn't my insurance person doing this with input from me? I thought that was one of the things we paid them for. Just as well, I suppose, because he doesn't understand our system... *wince* And he's gotten the State Inspector confused so I have a feeling I'm going to be talking myself blue trying to explain how the system is protected so we don't have to do unecessary work.
*sigh* And it's irritating me to no end, but it has to be done. So, I'd better get off to it. At least the sun is shining today. And it's warm. And J and I might take a bike ride after work. And we're going out for pizza tonight. And I get two brief days not to think about irritating inspection agents and dumb permits. *smile*
Have a great day everyone!
PS: Hmmm... Looks like I'm going to have to fix my mood theme this weekend, too. Half of the links are missing or broken? That doesn't make sense.
When I was in the process of buying my house last year, we had to have the Town Plumbing Inspector come out and certify that all was good with the sump pump discharge and sanitary sewer. The sump pump was fine, but he found that at least one of the underground drain pipes for the roof gutter drains was leaking into the sanitary sewer. Basically, he put some dye down it and found the dye in my neighbor's sewer inspection port. So, we had to cap off all the gutter drain pipes and dump the water on the ground next to the house. This really isn't a big deal... except in winter. Two of those downspouts discharge onto my driveway right in front of the back door and the garage and it makes a big skating rink out there during freeze/thaw cycles.
Naturally, I want to fix that. And, I want to dump the sump pump down that drain again, too. The alternate discharge at the front of the house has been messed up, and the water undercuts my front walkway. Not good. I don't want to have to pay to fix that again. And I just don't like water around the foundation of the house in general. I do have drain tiles, but it just makes me nervous.
Well, I also know that the underground pipes don't drain well. So, earlier this week I arranged for RotoRooter to come out and clean them up. *rolls eyes* This morning, I remembered that there was a cross tie or something and I started worrying that I was still going to be in violation. So, I called the Town to find out where I could get drawings of the underground pipes.
I spoke with the same Inspector who did the inspection last year, and he said something a little weird. He said that the pipes do not crosstie, but that both the sanitary sewer and the drain pipes seem to be leaking. The underground pipes are apparently clay tile. They can be damaged by plugging (which I know I have) or tree roots, etc. And my gutter drains don't tie into a neighborhood storm drain pipe, they dump into drain tiles at the street? Anyhow, he said that water is leaking out of my roof drain pipe, going down two or three feet, and getting into the sanitary line.
The engineer in me is going "Huh?" Unless the sanitary pipe is empty or under vacuum, how is storm water getting in there? It's not under pressure. Maybe a few inches of water pressure, but I would think that any water head pressure has been lost as the water worked its way through all the plugging and trickled down through the ground to the lower pipe. So how is it pushing it's way into the sanitary pipe? And if the sanitary pipe is cracked, shouldn't the town be fixing it? Maybe that's my responsibility... He didn't say.
Anyway, I'm confused. I know I've had a water leak (I think it was sanitary) up in the front yard before. I had a big sink hole, and the Town had to come and fix it. It was their pipe because I (or rather, my landlords) was never charged for the repair. Somehow, I'm willing to bet that's where the problem is. That, or a bit to the side where a tree used to be on the curb. There's never been a big tree there that I can remember. They can't get one to grow. Haha, we've given up trying to grow one there. But that's the only spot I know of that can have root damage.
Bush roots don't grow down three feet, right?
So, I'm trying to decide what to do. I think I'm still going to have Rotorooter come out on Saturday and clean the pipes. Maybe they can tell me if something is crushed. I think I'll also stop by the Town Building Office at lunch and pick up the underground drawings. J and I can pace out the front yard and see if we want to do some exploratory digging. If nothing else, it would be good information. I'm a big believer in having undergound drawings, hahaha.
Okay, now that that's outta my system for a while maybe I can go concentrate on these permits I need to fill out for Missouri. *sigh* Stupid permits. This information doesn't apply! It's not that type of pressure vessel! And why isn't my insurance person doing this with input from me? I thought that was one of the things we paid them for. Just as well, I suppose, because he doesn't understand our system... *wince* And he's gotten the State Inspector confused so I have a feeling I'm going to be talking myself blue trying to explain how the system is protected so we don't have to do unecessary work.
*sigh* And it's irritating me to no end, but it has to be done. So, I'd better get off to it. At least the sun is shining today. And it's warm. And J and I might take a bike ride after work. And we're going out for pizza tonight. And I get two brief days not to think about irritating inspection agents and dumb permits. *smile*
Have a great day everyone!
PS: Hmmm... Looks like I'm going to have to fix my mood theme this weekend, too. Half of the links are missing or broken? That doesn't make sense.