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Drainage Footings and Slabs

How Agricultural Drains Wreck Houses

Did you know that an agricultural drain can easily wreck the house it was installed to protect?

If agricultural drains are specified or installed incorrectly, they can easily be the cause of uncontrolled movement and cracking in your house.

Agricultural drains (also known as ag pipes, agi pipes, ag line, french drains (as credited to Mr Henry Flagg French – a farmer from New England), soakage drains, and slotted drainage pipes – phew!!) are sometimes used by homeowners and engineers to improve house subsoil drainage.
(Breaking news – check out our brand new article about improving drainage on sloping sites)

Sometimes agricultural drains are used to fix slab heave and reduce cracking in houses.

When agricultural drains are installed improperly, they can become a problem.

What is an Agricultural Drain?

An agricultural drain is a slotted PVC pipe placed into a trench that is backfilled with rocks or sand. The purpose of the agi pipe is to drain away any water that is in the ground.

Agricultural pipe without a geofabric sock
Agg pipe slotted pipe comes in rolls.

Groundwater or surface water that seeps into the trench falls through the rocks and is carried away by the slotted PVC pipe.

An agricultural drain is constructed by

  • digging a trench
  • placing a slotted PVC pipe in the bottom of the trench
  • sometimes the agi pipe is protected with a geofabric filter (a sock that keeps the dirt out)
  • backfilling the trench either to the surface or just below the surface with 10mm or 20mm gravel
  • sometimes the entire trench is wrapped in geofabric filter material for maximum protection from silt

How Agricultural Drains Wreck Houses

Agricultural drains and agricultural pipes are meant to remove water from the ground. Agricultural drains wreck houses when they become the source of moisture in the ground.

The National Construction Code says it in this round-about complex way:

In clay soil, subsoil drains can alter the long-term moisture content in the soil, adversely affecting the building foundation by removing or, in some cases, introducing water. In such conditions, subsoil drains should only be used where there are no other options for dealing with subsoil water.

Let me make it easy for you!

Do not connect your ag pipes to your stormwater pipes.

Run separate pipes.

If your agricultural pipes are connected to your roof downpipes, every time it rains water can flood back into the agricultural pipe and flood the trench that is meant to be collecting water!

That water then soaks into the ground and can affect your house footings.

Never connect agricultural pipes to your roof stormwater system!

The Best Way to Install an Agricultural Drain

This is the best way to install agricultural pipes:

  • If water is already on the surface, use spoon drains rather than aggi-drains. Surface water should be managed at surface level. Ag pipes are for water that is already in the ground.
  • Connect agricultural drains to their own pipework system. Do not connect agi pipes and soakage trenches to the roof stormwater system.
  • Ensure the agricultural pipe AND the bottom of the trench are graded in the direction of water flow. Water in and around the pipe should always be able to drain by gravity along the trench.
  • I’ll say that again! Ag pipes DO NOT magically make water flow uphill. The bottom of the trench has to be graded in the direction of the water flow.
  • Position agricultural drains no closer than 1m from your house footings. Use solid pathways or grade the ground away from your house for the first metre.
  • Never run slotted pipe drains UNDER your house. Use only solid pipes under your house. Try not to introduce water under your house.
  • Use silt pits where required by the National Construction Code. Don’t forget to keep silt pits clean of silt and debris.
  • Use geofabric and geotextiles to keep silt out of the soakage drain and pipe.
  • Bring the end of an ag pipe to the surface and cap it so that the pipe can be flushed out from time to time.
  • Discharge the low end of the agi pipe downhill of the house you are protecting or into the stormwater system downhill from the house.

How to Fix Poor Drainage Around Your House

Agricultural pipes might be one way to improve drainage around your home, but fixing drainage for a house on a sloping site requires an overview of the issues before you can solve them.

Our YouTube video on fixing drainage issues for houses built on sloping sites takes you through the steps of identifying where the water is coming from before broaching the subject of the correct installation of agricultural pipes.

A Typical Ag Pipe Scenario

I have an existing AGI pipe that slopes toward the house to a small drain that was, until I cleaned it out, full of soil. The AGi pipe is also full of soil and plant roots are growing through it.

Our response:

If the pipe is serving a purpose then the only thing to do then is to replace the pipe. You can get a new ag drain from Bunnings. https://www.bunnings.com.au/vinidex-100mm-x-10m-slotted-draincoil_p4770252 You can either replace the pipe yourself or have a landscape gardener do it.

Don’t forget that an ag pipe doesn’t magically make water flow uphill. The bottom of the trench also has to be firmly tamped and must drain in the direction of the flow.

Ag pipe is used for either collecting water from the ground or distributing it evenly into the ground. You’ll have to decide which purpose your pipe is being used for and if it is even required.

Normally I prefer to keep water on the ground surface if it is coming from a roof or concrete surface. As you have seen, pipes tend to block up!

Regards

Matt Cornell

More About House Drainage

Keeping water away from your house footings is one of the best ways to improve the performance of your house. This is especially true if your house is built on reactive clay soils and you are trying to avoid slab heave.

The Australian standard for residential footings and slabs (AS2870) stipulates 50mm ground fall away from your home over the first metre.

This is called surface drainage and it is getting harder to achieve on small sites.

  • Some buildings are built right to the boundary and you don’t have control of the ground levels or surface drainage next door.
  • On sloping blocks that are dug out to create a flat block, stormwater that falls between the house and the retaining wall has nowhere to go unless there is good surface or sub-surface drainage.

In these cases, your engineer and plumber should have a chat.

Need more ideas on how to handle these issues at the construction stage? Our YouTube video on waffle slabs and site drainage might be your next stop.

Show it to your builder, your neighbour, your site supervisor, your engineer, your plumber, and your landscape gardener.

Also, please subscribe to our channel to be notified when we upload a new video.

https://www.youtube.com/c/CornellEngineersAu

When Should You Use an Agricultural Drain?

Agricultural drains should be used as a last choice when the management of surface water isn’t enough to improve the performance of your house.

A good way to manage surface water is with spoon drains.

Check out our explainer video on why we prefer spoon drains to agricultural drains and grated drains.

Sometimes water is already in the ground and it needs to be removed. This is the true benefit of soakage trenches and agricultural drains.

Subsoil drainage systems should be used when:

  • Water is soaking into the ground uphill from your house and running through the ground towards your house.
  • Behind retaining walls.
  • Adjacent to basement walls.
  • Adjacent to deep footings.
  • On the uphill side of cut and fill sites.

If water is on the ground try your hardest to achieve drainage by overland flow rather than letting the water soak into the ground and be collected by an agi pipe.

A Quick Summary of Agricultural Pipes

  • Don’t connect agi pipes to the roof stormwater system. Run separate pipes.
  • Do make sure soakage trenches slope downhill.
  • Do keep agi pipe trenches at least 500mm from a house.
  • Do use soakage trenches to remove water from the ground
  • Do remember that ag drains do not magically make water flow uphill
  • Do discharge water from soakage trenches downhill of the house you are protecting
  • Do not run agi pipes under houses.

Can We Help?

Contact Cornell Engineers to help improve the drainage around your home.

Head over to our Get a Quote page. Let’s see if you need an agricultural drain, a spoon drain, or some other way of improving the drainage around your home.

Get a Quote

Agricultural Pipe References

https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2265594

A New House post about drainage

http://anewhouse.com.au/2014/08/soil-heave-protecting-the-slab/

http://anewhouse.com.au/2012/06/geotextile-around-drainage-pipes/

https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/livestock-and-animals/dairy/managing-wet-soils

https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=51843

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/ever-wonder-why-its-a-french-drain-its-got-nothing-to-do-with-france/2015/07/15/5b7f326c-2b15-11e5-bd33-395c05608059_story.html

49 replies on “How Agricultural Drains Wreck Houses”

Hi, this is exactly what I was looking for and answers most of my questions.

We have bought a townhouse in the outer north of Brisbane. The block has a very slight slope with the backyard on the high side. As I’ve been repairing the neglected backyard I discovered agripipe running across the slope about 5m from the house each end was sticking out of the ground. Part had to be removed for a shed slab and I’ve since discovered it’s connected to the stormwater. Should it stay or should it go? We have had some good heavy rain since buying the place and it’s all soaked into the ground quickly, more so since we’ve been growing lawn and breaking up the topsoil.

Hi Matthew, thanks you – this article is exactly what was I was looking for! When you say “Position agricultural drains no closer than 1m from your house footings.”, is this just a recommendation or is it part of a regulation/code (if so what reg please)? Also, do regulations require an agi pipe to be discharged into a pit/stormwater system, or can it simply discharge into the ground? I’ve had a neighbour install an agi pipe running parallel to the entire side of my house (within 300mm) with it discharging into the ground at the corner end of their yard right next to my slab and footings! Thanks

My daughter purchased a house near Ipswich Qld and although it hasn’t rained since purchased. Water does pool under the house. it was built in 1926 and has hardwood stumps. The house is on a sloping block. Previous owners have dug out underneath. if you take one corner of the house then go in about a metre on each side to create another right angle then a bessa block wall was created on this right angle. This bessa block wall was not water proofed and the water leaks through onto the concrete in front of this bessa block wall. The wall is only 3 bessa block high and the bottom 1 or 2 have water marks on the side facing away from the dirt. We have installed an agi drain about half a metre from the house in the same right angle. It is an investment property so its difficult to see what happens in the future. we have dug out behind the retaining wall and water proofed this. We were going to install a 2nd agi pipe behind this bessa block wall. and back fill with rocks to the height of the dirt behind the wall. Then I read your article that says dont do agi pipe under houses,……. Some of the timber stumps which we have painted several times were going to be in this trench………. We were going to fill with rock etc today 12.08.22 so any quick reply would be very helpful

Is having grass etc abutting the slab a good/bad idea or does it not matter as long as you have a downwards slope with the clay layer (and enough clearance for termite inspections etc)?

A plumber has given me a stormwater drainage plan for my house in Tasmania but I’m a bit suspicious of it now. He proposing an ag pipe drain running along and abutting the back of the house (lots of concrete in the back yard so water runs straight off it into a narrow garden bed abutting the house). Can you recommend hydraulic engineers for residential work in northwest Tasmania? Most of the firms in the area seem to offer services only on big civil engineering projects, not house blocks.

Hi Sian
Sorry, this request slipped through the drainage weep holes (I was going to say cracks but I thought I’d keep it in the spirit of the question).
In any case, unfortunately, I don’t. We’re one of those weird breeds of engineers that hones our drainage skills by fixing mistakes and problems that were brought to us on site.
Try looking for a forensic engineer in your area. They’ll have some experience with fixing drainage because it is such a common issue.
Otherwise use our video and information to sanity-check the advice you are given (as you have already done) and keep getting quotes until you find someone that can reassure you they know what they are doing.
Best of luck.
Matt Cornell

Hi Matthew,
Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge.
I’ve recently installed an ag line 60cm away from my house’s foundation, as my next door neighbour’s house is higher than mine and i get water pooling alongside my house as a result of that.
After reading your article would you suggest removing the ag line and installing something like a spoon drain or channel drain instead, to prevent any slab issues in the future?
The ag line has it’s own piping, which is why i thought it might be okay.
I have clay soil in my area as well.
Ash

Hi Ash
If the water is coming from next door as surface water, I really prefer to manage that water at surface level with spoon drains and swales and, if necessary, grated drains. These options are easier to maintain so you can be assured they are collecting and channelling water as expected.
By introducing water into the ground, especially clayey ground, your risk level goes up. You need to be really careful that your trench is free-draining, that you house footings can tolerate a bit of water sitting near them each time it rains, that the ag pipe can be and is flushed to remove debris from time to time.
Redoing previous gravell-filled trenches introduces a new issue – water will still soak into your old/new gravel filled tranch as much as it runs down a spoon drain. Ideally if you change form subsoil drainage to surface drainage you need to try and stop water getting into your gravel trench. That means replacing the surface level gravel with tamped clay.
I the gravel trench and ag pipe are working for now, it’s probably best to monitor and maintain for now until it stops working and then you can change to a surface dain system.
Matt Cornell

Hi Matt,

I have read and re-read this article and learnt a great deal from it. I have two questions.
You say that agi pipes should never been put under a house. My house is on a sloping block. It is essentially on one level but underneath the main level, on the downhill side, there is at one end a fully lined and carpeted room accessed by interior stairs and at the other end a carport. A central supporting wall runs the full length of the house. On the uphill side of this wall an agi pipe was installed in a gravel bed when the house was built. The agi pipe is the slotted PVC type, not the coiled type that you show in your article. The purpose of this agi pipe was obviously to take away any subsurface moisture that might reach he footings for the wall.
I have lived in this house 38 years and the house was built 2-3 years before I bought it. I have never seen any moisture in this area. That could be because the agi pipe has been very effective or because little moisture gets down to this point. I should point out that on the uphill side of the house, there is a large concrete area which directs water away from the house during heavy rain. My impression is that over the years the ground has more or less completely dried out. However, it is conceivable that in an extremely prolonged heavy rain event moisture might eventually come down into the under house area.
So, my first question is: is this not an appropriate use of agi pipe under a house?

This brings me to my second question.
I am now wanting to lay a concrete slab in part of the area where the agi pipe lies, to create a small workshop. The slab would go over the agi pipe. I am proposing to put an new agi pipe in a gravel bed alongside the slab, connecting it into the existing pipe. Should I replace the existing agi pipe with an unspotted PVC pipe on the basis that the new pipe will perform the function of the existing pipe and it is unwise to have agi pipe under a slab, or is it satisfactory to leave the existing pipe? As I’ve explained, the existing agi pipe runs the full length of the house. The concrete slab would only run half the length of the house. So the pipe that would end up under the slab might be called on, under the type of extreme conditions described above, to drain moisture from the area further along the house that will not be covered by the slab.

Hi Alistair
It’s hard to know without attending the site and/or seeing photos. I’d say an aggi pipe on the high side of the basement area that has been installed in a gravel bed and the whole thing drains freely to somewhere downhill of your house is a fine way to handle any leftover water that makes it past your surface water drainage system.
Creating more space under the house and installing additional aggi pipes and gravel drain combinations are also fine so long as they too are free-draining and discharge downhill.
To test your new system do this: Once the agg pipe has been laid but before placing the gravel, run a hose in the basement area at or near the top end of the aggi pipe. Let it flood the ground and flow whichever way you have it set up. Along the base of the trench locate each little dammed-up area of water and smooth out the base of your trench so that water runs freely along the trench. A good trench doesn’t rely on the ag drain. Water should flow freely along the trench and out. Once you have the trench draining freely, backfill with gravel.
Matt Cornell

Very informative, thanks.
My house is on low set steal columns in concrete footings. VERY Very sand coastal soil. House is “L”” shaped with ground slight sloping to the foot of the “L” and beyond. The foot is the front of the house. Stormwater flows into a large spoon drain outside the front of the property. Water flows under the house to a stormwater pipe in the ground – strictly speaking it probably should be a poly pit with the stormwater polypipe connected to it but it currently sticks a couple of mm above the ground surface.
As is often the case the base of some of the stumps show signs of rust that am dealing with.

Part of the project is to ensure water and soil do not encroach onto the concrete footing. Unfortunately some of the footings along the vertical of the “L” are now below ground level so a lot of digging, retaining, placing of rocks of varying sizes.
The problem area is the internal right side of the upright part of the “L”.

In the process of digging down to slightly below the top of the footings, have noticed quite a bit of water under the surface which is slowly seeping through the soil to storm water pipe surface opening that ultimately leads to a very large spoon drain outside property. Water also flows on the surface to here.
There is no where else for this, and any other water to go other than under the foot of the “L” if you will.

My current idea is to dig a trench along the length of this part of the house and install ag pipe along with the requisite gravel, rocks etc sloping down to that internal corner of the “L”, and from there connect to a new stormwater pipe on the slightly sloping ground and direct it to the front of the house. Am planning on having a very course layer of rocks near the surface covered with decorating rocks – the garden that is there at the moment will be removed.
This could be temporary, as will also have to replace some on ground [grrr] timber decking adjacent to it soon and could perhaps run the water stormwater pipe under that to bitumen driveway if can create sufficient fall.
By doing this, I hope to keep the soil as dry as possible, reduce the amount of surface water under the house in down pours and importantly, ensure no soil and water is deposited over time around the base of the steel columns.

I got a little spooled about your comment that agipipe and should not be used under or around house footing. I take it this mainly refers to slab on ground constructions. But wondering if principle also applies to the concrete footing for the steal stumps.

Any thoughts and comments would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

A couple of relevant details I omitted –
the slope of ground is from the top of the “L” to and beyond the base.
the proposed agi pipe installation will be right beside the concrete footings. Less than 2 metres from these is paving, probably on concrete as part of the pool that is less than a further meter away.

Hi Neil
A couple of things spring to mind:
– Very, very sandy soils should already be fairly stable (ie not subject to changes with changes in the amount of moisture).
– Very, very sandy soils are already free-draining.
Capturing and trying to divert water in very sandy soils is going to be difficult. You would need to provide a path for the moisture that is less resistant to the moisture flow than the relatively easy flow of moisture between the sand particles.
The benefit of a drainage system in these circumstances is a little bit lost to me. You aren’t fighting slab heave. The moisture can pass under a house on stumps with very little impact (except if it were to become a surface flow and damage items stored in the vicinity).
I would start with a review of our video on improving drainage on sloping sites (https://cornellengineers.com.au/houses-on-sloping-blocks-with-drainage-problems/) and perhaps try to cut off the water as far upstream and uphill as possible. This work may involve agg drains, but like I say – it will be quite hard to make water want to flow sideways when it already wants to flow down the hill towards your house)
best of luck
Matt Cornell

Hi mate, what do you suggest if the retaining wall is backfilled and no access dig a trench next to is to install the agi pipes?
Thanks.

Hi Max
Drainage of the soil behind a retaining wall isn’t an optional luxury – it is a necessary part of keeping that soil dry enough that it does not slump and apply large pressures to the wall.
So.
Depending on the type of retaining wall you have some work to do.
If the wall is a sleeper retaining wall and water can flow out of the wall between the sleepers then don’t do anything. Allow the water to weep through the wall and ensure grit and silt don’t come through the wall.
For every other type of wall, try to implement a system that will allow the water to flow out of the soil behind the wall or stop it from getting into the soil in the first place. Surface drainage, and drainage pipes through the wall are the first two ideas that come to mind.
Trying to implement these ‘fixes’ after a wall has been built makes it quite difficult to achieve success. I’d really recommend engaging a local structural or geotechnical engineer to give formal advice specific to your situation.
Matt Cornell

Hi Matt,
Thank you for the informative article! I’m from South Africa (on the eastern coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal), and have been having waterproofing issues on my boundary wall due to my neighbour’s land being higher than mine.
I’ve managed to get a qualified waterproofing company who assessed the situation and recommended a torch-on waterproofing application and an Agri-Drain Slotted Drainage System on my neighbor’s side of the wall (which will be installed in the wall trench and will run onto the road/stormwater drain)
My neighbor is concerned that the agri drain will affect his boundary wall foundation. I would like to know if we should be concerned regarding any possible damages by installing the agri-drain system?

Thanks!

Hi, I watched your video on spoon drains. We are having some high moisture readings in our slab from an 18 month old house that we built. And looking back it looks like plumbing wasn’t completed per engineer requirements on our class p with H1 characteristics site. The plans also make mention of spoon drains or earthern spoon drains. How would we identify if these were used during construction? Thanks so much

Hi Michael
If spoon drains were built or formed during construction – you’d still be able to see them today. They aren’t only required for the period your house is being built, they are a long-term and permanent drainage feature.
They would be identifiable as a low patch in the yard where water runs towards when it rains and then flows around and downhill of the house.
It might be time to have a chat to the original builder and certifier and ask why they weren’t built.
Matt Cornell

Hi there, I am in Adelaide combatting the Adelaide soils and overflow from my unwilling neighbours verandah turning the side of my house into Niagara Falls for over 20 years. I have had my house underpinned to no avail as my house and especially that corner is still sinking and the walls cracking. The council are unwilling to help. I think maybe this agg drain may be my last resort before I give up entirely. Do you have any contacts in Adelaide that you recommend.

Hi,
I have a 40 year old brick veneer home, standard strip footings.
Sloping block from rear to the front. Paving at rear is level with perpen joints and a lot of ground water running from the rear property and subsequently under the house. I was going to run a ag line the full length of the rear of the house but install building grade plastic sheeting against the wall before I lay the ag line, is this ok ?

Hi Steve
If the paving is at the perpend joints then that might be a termite entry problem. Consult a termite specialist about what you need to do to achieve protection against entry by termites.
Groundwater running toward the back of the house is a problem but if the water is on the surface, why not keep it there and use a spoon drain to collect the water and discharge it sideways https://youtu.be/zKXIMkwXxO8
A spoon drain can be built integrally with a concrete slab falling away from the building and/or you can use pavers over plastic but the plastic and the clay under the plastic should be shaped to drain away from the building. There is no point in having a slab and plastic if the sand underneath the plastic allows water direct access to the soil your house is built on.

Hi, sorry for the very late reply but have been sick. Thank you for you initial reply. Under the pavers was a concrete path. The ground water is running down from the rear neighbour under the concrete path then finding its way under the strip footing. I was thinking exposing the strip footing, digging down no further than 150mm next to the footing. Lay commercial grade plastic up and over footing, into the 150mm area and laying the ag line. What do you think ? Thanks in advance. Steve

Thanks for the tip to use spoon drains if the water is on the surface. I think people tend to forget this and end up messing up their drains. I don’t want that to happen to me so I’ll have a professional help me out.

I was looking for this information relating to such how agricultural drains wreck houses. You have really eased my work by posting this article, loved your writing skill as well. Please keep sharing more, would love to read more from you!

Note: French drains were named after Henry French, a 19th-century judge and farmer, not because they came from France.

This spoils an otherwise good article

Hi Fred
How embarrassing. I’m pleased to say I’ve learned something today. Thank you. I’ll correct the article immediately. Credit to Mr Henry French (and you) where credit is definitely due.
Matthew Cornell

I am needing to put agi pipe trenches through my backyard to prevent boggy soil. My backyard is about 10cm of topsoil on top of clay, doesn’t drain and the backyard is almost flat.
I am finding it difficult to find some ‘rules of thumb’ or recommendations or guidance on line as to the spacing apart required for the trenches. Can you help ?
Also is 100mm agi pipe pretty much the standard diameter to use or can narrower pipe be used ?

Hi Matt,

I’ve received the following advice: “Additional surface water runoff drainage is recommended to be installed at the front of the subject property. An agi pipe can be installed to the perimeter of the dwelling, diverting water to the legal point of discharge through the properties current stormwater drainage
system. This will prevent further water erosion causing subsidence.”
For context, my house is on a block with a site slope from sw to nw. Reading your article I’m a little apprehensive about this – how can I talk to the engineer about it?

Hi Matthew,

Great article and Video! I have officially subscribed look forward to share your vids.

I see that you are situated in Brisbane. I was wondering if you guys do any work in Sydney or if you possibly know a reliable drainage engineer?

Hi Pamela
Thanks for following us. We’ve provided advice for drainage job/problems in Sydney and we’ve had engineers in Sydney a few times. Let’s find out if we can help – perhaps send us a Messenger message and let’s see. m.me/CornellEngineers. If we can’t help, I’ll see if I can recommend someone.

What drainage can I do if the subfloor of a lean-to on piers, is around 400mm below the finished ground level of the paving outside? This is proposed new work, and the lean-to is facing a hill. It’s making me nervous to leave the subfloor space with no drainage out of it…? A builder is saying to install an ag pipe which I now realise is wrong from your article

Hi Sue,
I’m glad you are investigating the issues with poor drainage now before troubles begin. So many people get caught out with poor drainage after the builder has already finished.
Surface drainage is my preferred way of avoiding problems if it is at all possible. The ground should grade away from the building on all sides even though the natural grade of the ground is towards the building. Can the builder assist with adjusting the ground around the building as part of the work?
Sometimes there really is no alternative to installing an agricultural drain but it really is not the best way to take care of surface water.
Matt Cornell

Good write-up.

In the how Not to put in Ag-Drain, I thought the drawing as presented may also undermine house footings. As well as introducing moisture to potentially reactive soil.

Good point MD. It may well cause a subsidence problem – all the more reason to be really careful with excavations and the placement of trenches beside a dwelling. Thanks for your comment.
Matt

I wouldn’t trust a plumber for good advice; from my experience, they will overcharge and under deliver. I was upgrading my stormwater system and had to get council engineer approval – unfortunately, the engineer made a rookie mistake with his calculations but it would have been obvious to the plumber that built the system, as the pipe should have been 150 mm, not 100 mm as the plan specified – the plumber didn’t say a word, probably laughing behind my back, knowing the system would back up with heavy rain, which it does.
Other plumbers I’ve used have overcharged and also did substandard work, including using second-hand pits with holes from previous use in the wrong place.

I don’t get it Pete – You wouldn’t trust a plumber for good advice – yet you’re bemoaning a plumber who gave ‘no advice’ and followed engineered plans. Would you have even listened if he did give advice on the under sizing – or the skeptic within you think ‘here we go another plumber trying to overcharge me!’

Bought a 30-year double house, and discovered mold and damp problems. Terracotta pipes under the house connected to the bathroom were wet and presumed to be leaking. 70K quote to reline.
Further investigation showed previous owner installation of heat pump overflow lines just emptied onto the ground, next to the bathroom.
Connecting the lines to buckets showed over 20 l a week ponding under the house. Connecting heat pump overflow to sewer line fixed the water, and over time the terra cotta pipes dried out.
Added subfloor ventilation fans and the underfloor is completely dry, as proven by regular inspection.
Plumber wanted to install ag lines beside footings as shown in the how not to do ag drain diagram. No need now with HWS fixed.
Excellent article and keep in mind those HWS overflow pipes

Thanks for the information Matt, do you know anybody in Sydney who can do the job of installing the Agi pipe properly as my house is on a slope.

I’ve used the pipe in Western Australia, the area I lived was high in clay and local shire laws stated that down pipes to be connected to soak wells, problem being is that the soak wells filled and blew out. I connected the agi pipe to all 9 soak wells, lots of gravel around the pipe, I then ran the pipe both sides of my property to my front verge where I placed vents for any excess water to escape. Only once did I ever see water come from the vent. Fortunately for me my land was large enough to run a pipe 2m away from my house and my block sloped slightly down to the road giving water a direction to flow.
The combination use of soakwells and agi pipe are fantastic, only mistake I see people make is not enough agrigrate gravel aroung the pipe and soak well.

Thanks for the help on how to set up proper drainage pipes for your property and which ones will help you in getting rid of water that you do not want. Just like you mentioned, keeping the water drainage away from your home is the best idea so that there is no chance that it gets inside. Living on the coast, I think that I will definitely need something like this for when the storms come. Thanks again!

Hi Sophie. I’m not sure what the code requirements are for stormwater plumbing in your state. Speak to a certifier or to your local authority. However when we look for ways to improve drainage around a house I recommend not having roof stormwater pipes connected to agricultural pipes unless they are well away and downslope from the house.
Can anyone else comment?
Matt

No not legal and will distribute the stormwater through the soil via the agi pipe causing a major drainage problem with the related potential foundation problems

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