Standing Water Can Cause Potential Problems
Aside from being unattractive, pooling water in your yard can also cause potential problems. Which is why it is important to solve this problem right away. Below are some of the potential problems pooling water can lead to:
- The puddles of water can serve as a breeding ground for mosquitos, making you and your family at risk of various diseases.
- The soggy areas will leaver dirt and mud on your shoes, which you can carry inside your home.
- Your grass wont be able to grow properly because of pooling water will only encourage moss growth instead.
How To Clear Cloudy Pool Water
- |October 13, 2020
I hate cloudy pool water as much as I hate cloudy lemonade . Theyre ugly, dirty, and generally not ideal for swimming thanks to a number of potential health risks.
The worst part? Cloudiness can strike your pool in a matter of hours, leaving you scratching your head as to what exactly went wrong.
In this article, Ill walk you through the exact steps to identify, clear and prevent a cloudy pool for both inground and above ground pools.
Need a quick answer? The cause is either chemical imbalance, circulation/filtration issues, or environmental effects. To fix it, youll first want to test your pool chemistry to make sure everything is in balance, then throw in some clarifier or flocculant to clump the debris. Your filter will take care of the clumps and voilà clear water.
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Diverting Water From The Foundation Of Your House
Typically, when people contact a home services company about drainage issues, theyre worried about specific pools of standing water out in the yard. However, theres another issue that can end up causing far bigger problemsworse, it may be largely invisible in many cases.
What are we talking about? Water encroaching on your homes foundation. This scenario can be a problem for a number of reasons.
First of all, water near your homes foundation can cause cracks and remove soil supporting the slab and the footings, which can lead to wall problems. If you have a basement, water can actually seep through the walls and into your home.
Repairing these issues can be quite expensive, and really isnt something you want to have to deal with.
Fortunately, you have several options to keep water away from your foundation, all of which we already mentioned which can help with other drainage issues you may be experiencing.
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Filling With Topsoil Seldom Works
Typically people try and buy topsoil to fill those low areas and sometimes that works, if there is a way to divert that water and actually get it to drain away, or disperse evenly over a large area where it can both evaporate and seep in. But usually trying to fill the area with topsoil only moves the water to another spot in the yard.
Using the system that I explain in this video you can use perforated drainage pipe collect the water in the wet areas and move that water underground allowing it to seep into the soil.
When you have water that stands in one spot for very long the soil closest to the surface in that area becomes quite compacted to the point that it just wont accept water from the surface. This is usually just the top couple of inches.
Even at my nursery where my soil drains really, really well, standing water does compact the soil near the surface, preventing that water from seeping into the soil. The secret is to create a porous area using washed gravel that will allow the water to seep into the ground. The water is then collected into the perforated pipe. The water actually seeps into the pipe through the perforations.
6 Perforated Drainage Pipe
In this photo you cant see the perforations but they are there, all the way around the pipe in every other rib. This is evident with the photos where I stuck a knife into one of the drainage slits. I prefer this type of perforated pipe for a couple of reasons.
Clearing Water From The Sidewalks
If the sidewalk or your patio is lower than the surrounding area of the yard, the water is going to pool up there, and it wont be long before the entire area is covered with water. This can happen after a rainstorm, and the worst thing is that if you are not careful, the water is going to take several weeks before it completely evaporates.
Until it does, you wont be able to use this area. Obviously, raising the patio or the sidewalk is not a wise idea, because it takes a lot of effort and costs a great deal of money.
Instead, you should consider using storm drain channels to eliminate the standing water and prevent more water from pooling up in the area. All you have to do is install the storm drain channels along the sides of the walkway!
Ideally, the storm drain channels need to be placed along the sidewalk, near to the lowest slope. Then, you can just connect the storm drain channels with a French drain, if you have installed one.
Once you do that, the water is simply going to pass through the storm drain channels and into the French drains, which eventually take them away from your yard. The best thing about installing these storm drain channels is that you dont have to worry about them affecting the aesthetic appeal of your house.
There are some really attractive storm drain channels that are available nowadays, so they will effectively blend in with the surroundings. You wont really have to worry about these storm drain channels sticking out like a sore thumb.
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What You Can Do
The good this is that there are ways to get rid of water pooling in your yard. Take are look at the following methods you can do:
Effective Ways To Stop Yard Flooding
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Every homeowner wants a lovely yard, and landscaping is a crucial process for getting a good yard. However, while landscaping is critically important, you have to understand that proper drainage is also of critical importance.
If you havent taken care of the drainage in your yard, it will take only one rainy season for your entire yard to be submerged in water. This becomes all the more plausible if your house is situated at the base of a slope.
As the water falls down the slope, it is going to pool up in your yard, and without proper drainage, it will continue to accumulate. Before you know it, the entire yard will be flooded, and the water will start pooling up in your house as well.
The best way to deal with this problem is to take care of these things before the rainy season. If you are going to build a yard, the first thing to do is take care of drainage.
If you go through a few city council websites, you will realize that they all talk about flooding problems and give a range of tips on how you can deal with these issues, especially during severe rainy seasons.
If you dont want to deal with yard flooding problems, here are just a few simple tips that will help you out.
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Remove Your Pool And Fill It In
This may sound like a drastic option, but its possible to remove your swimming pool in its entirety, without it costing a small fortune. However, the cost does depend on the size of your pool in the first place.
Another important consideration is whether you can get an earthmover into your yard, without having to make any drastic changes to your property, plants, or fencing.
For this task, its best to hire the expertise of a demolition or concrete landscaping company, such as JM Concrete Pros. The process is fairly simple. First, they will drain your pool. Second, they dig a hole in the bottom of your pool which is then filled with crushed rock.
After this, they remove the first two-three feet of the pool, plus the decking. This debris is usually placed inside the hole. Once this is complete, they cover the demolished pool area with topsoil. Its then graded so you can use this extra landscape as you please.
Cause #: Circulation & Filtration Issues
Pool water that isnt being properly circulated is always at risk of becoming cloudy water.
Thats because circulation pushes your pool water through your filter system, so without it, the filter cant work its magic and keep your water squeaky clean.
There are a few moving parts to this, so lets go through them.
Is Your Pump Powerful Enough?
A pool pump is a core part of your filtration system as it cycles your water through the filter in order to remove debris and maintain circulation, this prevents the water from stagnating which eventually breeds other problems.
With that in mind, you need to make sure your pump has the ability to cycle the entire contents of your pool at least once per day. Whats more, youll need a pump that can complete a turnover in an 8 hour period.
The speed at which a pump completes a turnover is based on two factors:
Note: Flow-rate tells you how many gallons of water pass through the pump each minute, and its appropriately measured in gallons per minute .
To properly size your pump, divide your water volume by 8, then divide again by 60. What youre left with is your pools required turnover rate in GPM. The flow-rate of your pool pump should be at least the same.
Is Your Pump Suited To Your Filter?
You wouldnt put all that effort into correctly sizing your pool pump only to neglect your pool filter, would you?
Are You Maintaining Your Equipment?
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Cause #: Uneven Lawns
Uneven lawns come in a wide variety of differentforms. They can be lush with muddy patches. They can be hilly with deepcrevices. Some also might have uneven lawn coloring, or just have problemsgrowing grass evenly.
No matter the appearance, one thing is clear.Muddy, uneven lawns are a common place for standing water tocongregate after a storm. They also are natures way of indicating seriouswaterflow drainage issues that exacerbate standing water problems in a yard.
Can You Get Penalized For Having Stagnantwater In Your Yard
On a federal level or a state level, the answeris no. There arent any state laws requiring homeowners to get rid of standingwater. However, there is a catch. Many local municipalities and HomeownersAssociations have rules regarding stagnant water.
If youre concerned about getting penalized forstanding water in your yard, its best to ask your local HOA or look upmunicipal laws regarding it. Or, simply get rid of it before it becomesproblematic enough to draw attention. It is better to be safe than sorry inmost situations.
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Wait Just How Cloudy Is Your Pool
Cloudy is a pretty vague term, and you should know that there are different stages of cloudy pool water. And yes, it goes from bad to worse.
Personally, Id break cloudy water into three categories:
- Flat. The least severe form, in that your pool water still has its color but it doesnt have the sparkle it once did.
- Hazy. The water is starting to lose its color and its now difficult to make out small details on the pool floor.
- Milky. The water is no longer translucent, meaning the pool floor is not visible at all. This is pretty much as bad as it gets.
How To Get Rid Of Standing Water In Your Yard
Standing water in the yard is a bane to many property owners existence. Aside from being unsightly, it can lead to other environmental problems. Puddles of standing water can encourage pests such as mosquitoes to breed, and it can cause more mud to be tracked into your home.
Lawns that have standing water will also lead to moss-covered patches. Depending on how close the water is to your home, your foundation may also suffer due to the excessive moisture.
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Standing Water In Yard Causes And Fix
Water pooling in yard is one of the bad news to a homeowner. In addition to damaging the stability of a foundation, unsightly stagnant water will stop your backyard enjoyments, gatherings and parties. If not mosquitoes, the smell of decomposing twigs and leaves in the water will typically keep you away from your patio or garden.
Water puddles on your patio will attract mold and mildews and gradually the concrete or pavers will start breaking down. This typically undermines the original purpose of improving your garden and if no action is taken, this is money going down the drain.
To permanently get rid of standing water in yard, begin by deducing the primary cause of the menace.
Water will pool in your yard due to a number of reasons including the following:
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How To Fix Negative Grading
The home is the biggest investment for most people and they want the yard to look aesthetically pleasing. Adding in shrubs, trees, flowers etc. make it look really nice. But what if you notice on your dream home that there is negative grading in the yard?
Negative grading of the landscape is when the land is angled as such that the water can flow towards the home. Thus making it necessary to level or sculpt the land and make it slope away from the home and foundation.
Six inches of slope for every 6 feet is ideal. The idea is for the land to be graded to where the water flows away from the home. So how do you fix negative grading? Well, start with removing plants, shrubs, and grass and add in the soil to level it out.
Lets take a look at two types of grading, why you need a home inspection, how to fix negative grading and what can happen if you dont.
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Why Is The Backyard Flooding
Flooding happens when there is no proper drainage. This is a general matter of fact, which also covers your backyard.
Drainage is not something that we really think about as homeowners.
Right?
Its almost like a project for the government and public officials. However, once you experience heavy rains and your backyard is flooding, then you start thinking about what you could have done to prevent it.
Here are the most common reasons why there is flood in your backyard:
Small Wet Area After Storms
In small wet areas after storms, poor grading prevents stormwater from flowing off the yard. Instead, stormwater is held in small, well-defined depressions until evaporation or infiltration into the soil eliminates the wetness.
A practical and environmentally beneficial option is to replant the wet area with water-tolerant plant species, preferably native. If you wish to eliminate the soggy depression, you can do so by filling or re-grading the depression.
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What Should I Do To Stop Water From Sitting On Top Of The Soil In My Lawn
Your goal is two-fold. You want to improve the aeration and the texture of the soil. This will improve drainage and stop water from sitting on top of your lawn.
I suggest you read Sydneys article on How To Improve Clay Soil For New Or Existing Lawns. There are several approaches listed so at least one of them will be right for your situation.
Aeration is helpful. You can improve soil drainage to some extent with this approach. The problem is that you are usually only aerating the top few inches of soil. If your clay soil layer runs deeper than that, youll only see a limited benefit.
Personally, I am a big believer in a concept that I call Deep Soil Integration. This is essentially a process of drilling holes in clay soil to improve drainage. I fill the holes with organic material. Over time, that organic material decomposes and the result is a better quality soil.
This allows for the water to drain more effectively through the clay to the more porous soil below. At the same time, you are literally changing the texture and composition of the soil which will allow for longterm benefit.
to read my article on how deep soil integration can help improve your clay soil.
Ive done this for the past two years and have been very pleased with the results. It has not only improved the drainage in my yard but has significantly improved the quality of grass growth on my lawn.
