A good natural drainage is possible only in areas with a sufficiently specific soil structure. In the Dnieper, and in general in Ukraine, there are relatively few such territories - and there are practically no such territories within the urban development or in the private sector. Therefore, when landscaping sites, it is almost always necessary to include in the project a system for artificial soil drainage.
When is natural drainage effective?
Natural drainage assumes that a hundred moisture that falls on the surface of the soil will independently penetrate into its thickness and go into underground aquifers, without lingering in the soil and not leading to its swamping. This is possible only if several conditions are met:
- Good moisture permeability of all soil layers.
- Lack of relief elements that contribute to the accumulation of fluid.
- Relatively little rainfall.
Leveling terrain to improve drainage is quite possible, but it comes with high costs. Laying an additional drainage layer when forming a soil cake is also practiced - but usually in limited areas (for example, when laying paths). In other cases, the owners of the territories simply put up with the fact that after a heavy downpour, puddles remain on the surface, and the soil gradually gets wet.
Artificial drainage and sewerage systems
An alternative can be the laying of artificial drainage systems - both linear and point. In this case, plastic, metal or concrete gutters closed with gratings are laid on the site in places of lowering of the relief, as well as near infrastructure facilities. Moisture flows into the gutters, as well as into open storm drains, which then moves through underground drain pipes to the tanks. Can be used as a reservoir:
- Collector.
- Drainage ditch.
- Filtration well.
Despite the relatively small area of the sewerage network facilities, it works very effectively. With the correct layout of the site and proper care of the gutters and drainage pipes, sediment is almost immediately removed from the surface underground, which avoids the appearance of puddles and dirt.
For effective drainage, the quality of the parts that are used when installing the drainage system is also very important. The choice of materials depends on the calculated loads - plastic gratings and gutters are inexpensive, but they cannot withstand systematic loads from passing vehicles. In such conditions, it is advisable to use steel gratings and gutters made of cast reinforced concrete.
