Browse Forums DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair 1 Feb 13, 2014 5:55 pm Hi all, hope this is in the right section. We have recently installed a 10,000L rain water tank, and much to our surprise its already full! Its hooked up to collect water from the roof and is located in the bottom corner of our block, which is also the lowest point. We live in a somewhat slopey area. The overflow is not currently hooked up to anywhere and much to our surprise, it has been overflowing before we have had a chance to even hook a pump and use it for the garden. Especially today, with 30mm+ of rain! So, its been overflowing into our neighbours yard, understandably they are peeved off (as I would be too). He has direct access to the stormwater collection on the road, but will not allow us to put a pipe through his property (we are happy to have it professionally done, to minimise any 'ugliness'), although has told us that he already dug a trench at the back of his garden bed to allow the water to flow down to the road. He is in the early stages of taking us to court, although this is the first we have heard of the issue, and haven't had any notification from the council. We can not access stormwater on our road, as we are on a slope and cant get water up the hill (obviously!). Before we installed the tank it just use to flow out of the down pipe directly onto the fence, and onto our driveway and down the hill. Our house was built in the early 70s. Any advice on what we can do? Re: Neighbour threatning to take us to court over stormwater 2Feb 13, 2014 6:29 pm lozza83 Any advice on what we can do? You can post some relevant details including slope and heights, number of downpipes harvested, downpipe size, size of pipes going to the tank, etc etc etc. Are you in Adelaide? I also assume that you have wet pipes. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Neighbour threatning to take us to court over stormwater 3Feb 13, 2014 6:59 pm Agree with above comments . . . but some initial thoughts If the top level in the tank is above your driveway you could probably set up your system to overflow at the down pipes, onto your driveway, rather than at the tank. If that doesn't work probably the cheapest solution is to get a submersible pump in the tank to pump to your driveway. With pumping you need to get an idea of the peak flows and ideally have 2 pumps so if one has problems the other can carry on working. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Neighbour threatning to take us to court over stormwater 4Feb 14, 2014 1:20 am The critical heights that you need to post are: House gutters. Ground level at house. Refer to this as zero. Height at the bottom of the tank's overflow outlet in relation to the house ground level. Is the road higher than the gutters? If not, how much higher are the gutters above the road? 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Neighbour threatning to take us to court over stormwater 5Feb 14, 2014 12:02 pm I endorse what bashworth and H20 have said above. If you can exit the water under gravity to your front gutter, then thats what you should do. Where was the roof water flowing prior to the tank installation? Becasue that is where the tank overlfow should be directing water into. As long as you do that, you maintain the drainage design of the house, and are out of hot water.(slight pun there for you - ho ho) If you do anything on your property that causes a change in the way the natural water flows overland then you are liable to remedy that. If you have placed the tank in a position where you cannot direct overflow as stated in the previous paragraph, you may be liable for containing any new concentrations (accelerated runoffs) that occur by virtue of the tank placement. The best thing to do is 1. talk to your neighbour, ask him what he would like done. IT will be cheaper than taking time off work, or hiring a lawyer to go to court. This way you stay on good terms with him. go to court, and you will be lifelong enemies. Note: he does not have to give you access for a drainage easement, formally or informally. 2. Ring your council, as they are the ones who usually enforce stormwater infringements and see how they want it dealt with. They should be able ot give you some ballpark ideas. Re: Neighbour threatning to take us to court over stormwater 6Feb 14, 2014 12:20 pm qebtel The best thing to do is 1. talk to your neighbour, ask him what he would like done. IT will be cheaper than taking time off work, or hiring a lawyer to go to court. This way you stay on good terms with him. go to court, and you will be lifelong enemies. Note: he does not have to give you access for a drainage easement, formally or informally. The way I read the OP was that they've only just realised there was an issue and the neighbour is taking them to court. I'm sure the OP doesn't want to go to court. Whatever happened to neighbours talking to each other? No, let's just litigate and be enemies for life. Surely if they had just approached the OP then it could have been sorted out. Sounds like the OP wants to do whatever is reasonable to rectify the issue. Completed a knock down and rebuild in northern Melbourne. Handover completed 27/09/2013 and now moved in. Re: Neighbour threatning to take us to court over stormwater 7Feb 17, 2014 11:04 am At the 'end of the day' you are required to direct all run-off to the 'legal point of discharge' from your property. Councils generally are loathe to become involved with water run-off issues other than to state the above. If the tank can't gravity feed to the designated point then you will need to install a pump, set up to activate when any overflow occurs. Peter Clarkson - AusDesign Australia www.ausdesign.com.au This information is intended to provide general information only. It does not purport to be a comprehensive advice. Re: Neighbour threatning to take us to court over stormwater 8Mar 18, 2014 8:44 am Lozza83 joined on Feb 13, 2014 at 06:45pm. The last visit was on Feb 13, 2014 at 07:33pm. Nevertheless, maybe others can learn the following lessons. Never install a large water tank to the lowest part of your property if it has nowhere to drain. DOH! Never install a water tank that harvests a large roof area without knowing how much water will drain to the tank for every one mm of rain. The inflow capacity must not exceed the tank's overflow capacity. Install an overflow provision before diverting water to the tank. Don't be surprised when a neighbour displays low tolerance for someone who acts without due logical process. All of the above ARE logical. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Neighbour threatning to take us to court over stormwater 9Mar 18, 2014 9:52 am SaveH2O Lozza83 joined on Feb 13, 2014 at 06:45pm. The last visit was on Feb 13, 2014 at 07:33pm. Same as all the threads started about someones project and how they are going to post pics and keep us informed and then after few days.....nothing. This forum is full of loose ends. Re: Neighbour threatning to take us to court over stormwater 10Mar 18, 2014 10:35 am Yeah, I see this poster hasn't been back but I have some thoughts to add too. lozza83 Any advice on what we can do? Fix it. Sooner or later the overflow was going to overflow, thats what its there for. It sounds like that wasn't even planned for during installation if the poster is asking now what to do. bashworth If the top level in the tank is above your driveway you could probably set up your system to overflow at the down pipes, onto your driveway, rather than at the tank. qebtel Where was the roof water flowing prior to the tank installation? Becasue that is where the tank overlfow should be directing water into. As long as you do that, you maintain the drainage design of the house, and are out of hot water.(slight pun there for you - ho ho) Without a full understanding of the problem that sounds to me like a logical solution, direct the overflow to where the water ran previously. @ the pun. SaveH2O Lozza83 joined on Feb 13, 2014 at 06:45pm. The last visit was on Feb 13, 2014 at 07:33pm. Nevertheless, maybe others can learn the following lessons. Never install a large water tank to the lowest part of your property if it has nowhere to drain. DOH! Never install a water tank that harvests a large roof area without knowing how much water will drain to the tank for every one mm of rain. The inflow capacity must not exceed the tank's overflow capacity. Install an overflow provision before diverting water to the tank. Don't be surprised when a neighbour displays low tolerance for someone who acts without due logical process. All of the above ARE logical. I agree. It reads to me like the logic there didn't go beyond collecting water for the poster's own garden. As a neighbour that would be disappointing to say the least. Among extended family and friends there have been a few problems with neighbours of a few different houses (three of them were flooding). When the response is "why are you making a fuss over a minor problem (=its not affecting ME)" or "sorry, I'll fix it . . . . sorry, I haven't got around to it yet . . . . sorry, I forgot, I'm on it . . . . sorry, I've been away on holidays . . . . sorry, I didn't have the money this week . . . . sorry, I've been flat out at work . . . . (=its not a priority for me because its not affecting ME)" then you understand why some people see going to court as the only solution. I've filled, levelled and compacted around 100mm of roadbase in preparation to lay some outdoor court tiles. Prior to doing the final compaction, I dusted the top with… 0 3037 Plumbers 'can be' plumbers, made all the worse by self certification which the building surveyor invariably accepts as proof of compliance! The good thing is that you know know. 3 4766 Grab a hose, insert it at the top of the inlet/down pipe and turn the water on and see where the water is escaping from. Then you'll know. 3 8385 |