REGION OF PEEL: Maintaining proper drainage can help ensure that water flows safely away from the walls of your home, or other buildings on your property, and into the City’s stormwater system.
Effective drainage can help prevent flooding in your home and basement. Property drainage is the responsibility of the landowner.
Improving drainage Here are some of the things you can do to improve the drainage on your property:
Watch where water goes The best time to learn about drainage on your property is when it’s raining. Watch where the water goes and where it collects.
Check lot grading and downspouts The ground around your house should slope away from the building and other properties. Roof downspouts should extend two metres away from your foundation and away from your neighbour’s property.
Keep eavestroughs and drains clear Keep eavestroughs, downspouts and ditches or storm drains on your property clear of leaves and other debris. If these get blocked, water can start to collect instead of draining and may cause property flooding.
Green infrastructure Green infrastructure is an environmentally-friendly approach to managing stormwater that’s designed to mimic nature. There are lots of different ways you can incorporate green infrastructure on residential or commercial properties. You can add features like trees, rain gardens, mulch and porous pavements to soak up rainwater, slow it down and trap pollution. Reducing runoff saves money on costly construction, protects properties and makes our city beautiful.
Disconnecting your roof downspouts A downspout is the vertical pipe used for carrying rainwater down from your eavestrough to the ground. Your home may have several of these pipes directing water from your roof. Some older homes may have roof downspouts connected into the sanitary sewer.
You can disconnect downspouts to reduce the risk of basement water infiltration if you have a safe place to discharge this water. Diverting roof downspouts onto your lawn or garden at least two metres (six feet) away from your foundation should allow stormwater to flow away from your foundation onto gardens, landscaped areas and lawns.
Be sure to divert roof water away from neighbouring properties, driveways and sidewalks to avoid property flooding and ice buildup.
Safely disconnecting your downspouts can:
• Reduce the flow of water next to your home’s foundation and reduce the risk of basement water infiltration
• Provide a free source of water for your lawn and gardens
• Keep unnecessary water out of the sewer systems.