When rainwater goes where it is supposed to, drainage tends to be easily overlooked. When you have lots of construction, new roads, and a higher intensity of rainfall combined with little heed as to how the “run-off” from a rainstorms will get back into the earth: you have issues.
Welcome to Westchester County, NY 2012 where roads habitually flood, entire regions of low lying towns struggle with storm after storm, and surface water control issues loom large.
Westchester county enacted rainwater control measures about 7 years ago to help alleviate these problems, but it was about 30 years too late. Basically the measures called for more owner-created means of controlling , holding and dispersing the rainfall on the Owner’s property. This does help lessen erosion, slow flooding, and helps to some degree contain the problem to the limits of the property. HOWEVER….”The thing is” when you create a road or parking lot or new impervious surface uphill of a site, the same amount of water still has to enter the ground, aquifer or waterbody through less surface area. Imagine a sponge that is half covered by a rubber glove- the saturation level of the exposed area of the sponge is hastened by the diminishment of the sponges surface-more exposed surface= fewer problems.
So the general strategy is to slow the flow of water to minimize erosion, hold the water and then try to disperse it by guiding the run-off into areas that will let the water seep out slowly. This is often done by a system of drains, gutters, leaders and seepage pits (drywells) or connections to sewers. There are many types of drainage devices and they vary in size based on how much water they will control, maintenance requirements and the drainage characteristics of the soil of the site.
While climate change has lead to higher intensities of rainfall because hot air holds more moisture, we also have to address the changes of state from water to ice allowing the puddles to freeze over and create real hell in February where “slip and fall” accidents have risen sharply.
So, if you or somebody you know is having trouble with those pesky puddles and needs to talk about cost-effective solutions that look great and last, please ask them to call Steve at 914 980 5532.
Underground drywells and gravel are commonly used to hold and disperse the rainwater back to the ground
