With all the rain washing around the place lately much of the land is soaked to the bone. In many cases fields, gardens, parks and playgrounds are completely inaccessible due to flooding or just soft ground. Atlantic storms have been battering Ireland since the start of the year and at the moment don’t appear to be subsiding. All this rain water has to go somewhere and if land is slow to drain water will either sit on the surface or run off the land and into already inundated water ways. Using weed control fabric around land drains is one way to improve land drainage.
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- Flood Management
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- Water Management
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- weed fabric and land drain
Greenbelts and flood management systems will be something that towns and cities across Ireland will need to invest in. Many Scandinavian Countries have developed a number of water collection systems that ease the pressure and control the flow of water in times of heavy rain.
These ideas include wet land parks, underground water channels and water storage and planting of increased numbers of trees in and around urban areas. These measures can be enough to make the difference and save properties and valuable land from being flooded.
For those of you who have a sodden back garden or water logged field, you will no doubt also be considering installing land drains to improve ground conditions. Below is a list of steps in how to install land drains. But remember to avoid blocked or clogged drains you should wrap and cover the drain pipes in a porous membrane such as a weed fabric
When to install a land drain
Now, i.e. in the mists of this latest stormy weather is not the time to install drains, or for that matter, to do any work on the land. All ground works should be down in dry conditions. Avoid working in wet conditions as this can lead to soil compaction and further drainage problems
How to install the porous weed fabric
As I mentioned, the use of a weed fabric or membrane around the drainage pipes is essential when installing. This membrane will preventing small particles of soil known as clay or silica particles from clogging up and blocking your drains. When you position your land drains be sure to factor in using weed fabric- a 1m wide rolls would be sufficient to wrap around the land drain pipe. Be sure that the weed fabric fully surrounds the pipe and extends the length of the pipe. So if you want a land drain 50M in length you would need 50M2 of weed fabric
Other Factors to note
- Remember that the land drain should slope in a particular direction towards a main drain or ditch.
- Remember to lay the land drain flat on that slope and on a bed of washed stone.
- After wrapping the drain in weed fabric, back fill the drain with more washed stone