Waterlogged soil on a site is a problem for its owners. When purchasing a plot, excess moisture can be determined by the presence of reeds, sedges, and rush grass. Subsequently, owners are faced with unpleasant fumes, mosquitoes, poor growth garden plants. Plants disappear due to insufficient oxygen access to the roots, their rotting, and exposure to toxic products (nitrates, acids, aluminum salts) formed in swampy soil.
Wetland and clay soilIt is expensive to build a house on waterlogged land. We have to build a deep pile foundation.
All these troubles can be eliminated by draining the area. There is a solution to the problem, and you can try to get rid of excess moisture yourself. The key to success in this case is understanding the nature of the swampy area.
Different situations - different solutions
Determining the cause of the formation of a swamp is sometimes difficult even for a specialist. In this situation, it is important to familiarize yourself with the surroundings and inspect the lands of your neighbors. Excessive soil moisture usually has two main reasons:
- Placement of the allotment in the lowlands of the reservoir, which leads to the location groundwater quite close to the surface. This reason is rarely confirmed, since few people deliberately decide to purchase land in a swamp.
- Disruption of natural water flow as a result of heavy rains. This problem is associated with several factors - the location of the site below neighboring ones (water after rains constantly flows to it), the location of a layer of viscous clay close to the surface, or the presence of a source feeding the swamp.
Each specific case has its own solution to the problem, tested by more than one generation of farmers. An analysis of the situation on the site will allow you to decide which drainage method to use.
High groundwater level
Reeds are growing - water is nearby Closed-type drainage performed at a sufficient depth will allow drainage of surface groundwater (“overwater”). Such drainage is installed along the perimeter of the site, as well as throughout its entire territory. In case of abundant water, when drainage into the deep layers of the soil does not lead to results, a drainage well and a pump are needed that can constantly pump out water and divert it outside the territory.
Clay soil
Organization of drainage on clay soil Soil with high content clay does not allow moisture to pass through well, and the ground remains damp for a long time after rain and melting snow. If the land plot is located at an angle, the influx of water comes from the surface of the earth located above. Optimal solution in such a situation - the use of backfill and open ditches to accumulate and drain moisture deep into the ground.
The organization of closed-type drainage is not so effective, and the formation of a filtration layer to the surface of the earth is not always justified.
swampy area
The optimal, but very expensive solution is to raise the ground level and create a drainage ditch along the perimeter. Before draining a site, it is important to consider plans for the use of the area and determine the depth of drainage. If the area is seasonally swamped, you can dig a ditch in the lowest part of the site. In addition to it, it is necessary to make open drainage channels, often located throughout the entire territory. The sloping area should be protected from sliding of the earth with plants or geomats.
Drainage ditch along the site Location of the allotment in the lowland
Waterlogging can be dealt with using a pump and a drainage well. If this is appropriate and possible, the problem will be solved by a pond in the lowest part of the plot and closed drainage throughout its entire area. Drainage must be carried out to a state in which the foundations of buildings will not be destroyed, and plants will be able to develop.
Learn more about drying methods
A plot of land can be drained different ways reclamation. Before choosing the right one, you should consider the following factors:
- waterproofness of the soil, its composition;
- direction and level of groundwater;
- buildings in the garden;
- height to which the groundwater level needs to be lowered.
Delivery of soil to raise the level of the site The delivery of fresh fertile soil will allow the surface level of the plot to be raised. If the ground is plowed, it will mix with viscous and dense swampy soil, and it will be possible to grow crops in the garden. Lands cultivated in this way do not require fertilizers for several years. However, the swamp is a stable ecosystem, so it is possible that it will return to its original form over time.
Adding sand
If you add sand in equal proportions to the soil of the site, the quality of the soil improves and air exchange increases. With additional humus, it is possible to cultivate vegetables, berries, and herbs on the ground. Adding sand to waterlogged soil is a more effective means of reclamation. The method is effective in itself if applied on clay soils with a slight excess of surface water.
Drainage
Arrangement drainage system– most effective method drain surface water for a long time. To create it, plastic pipes with small diameter holes in the walls are used. It is first necessary to wrap the pipes with holes in geotextile in 1-3 layers, depending on the size of the soil particles. They are placed in pre-prepared channels to the following depth:
- for clay soils – 65-75cm;
- for loams - by 70-90cm;
- for sandy areas - up to 1 m.
Open and closed ditches
Construction of closed drainage ditches Open drainage ditches will remove excess water from the soil surface. They are made with edges beveled at an angle of 20 degrees. The disadvantage of this method is rapid shedding, contamination of the outflow with leaves, debris, and stagnation of water. Such drainage structures should be cleaned regularly with a shovel. Open drainage ditches are not used in areas with sandy soil because the sand is quickly washed away and drainage becomes ineffective. It is convenient to place an open drainage ditch in an area along the fence, where it does not disturb anyone.
Closed drainage ditches are deeply dug trenches covered with a layer of sand and disguised as garden paths. They have an aesthetic appearance, the soil in them does not collapse, and the water inside does not bloom.
For the system to function properly, the dug trenches are led into a well or dug down to a layer of sand that will absorb moisture. If the channels become clogged, it will be difficult to clean with soil.
Raised beds
When planning to cultivate herbs, vegetables, and strawberries, owners of waterlogged plots build high beds. Excess moisture collects between the beds, and areas of land with crops become drier. With the right approach, it is possible to grow crops even in areas with excess water. Photos of vegetable gardens in Holland, surrounded by a network of canals, convince us of this. Such conditions allow you to grow anything you want.
Creating high beds will not only drain excess water, but also decorate the garden Digging a pond or well
A decorative pond will collect excess moisture and allow it to gradually evaporate. At the same time, the garden area will become noticeably drier, and the pond itself will decorate the landscape. The effectiveness of this method convinces clear example– The Cross Canal, built for the same purposes in the park of Versailles.
Wells are as efficient as ditches. To create them, holes are dug at the lowest points of the site and filled with crushed stone or sand. Their diameter at the bottom is half a meter, at the top – two meters, and their length is about a meter. After rain or snow melts, excess moisture gradually drains into them.
The pond collects rainwater and decorates the area Planting moisture-loving trees
Moisture-loving trees help rid a waterlogged garden of excess water. Feel good here weeping willows, alder and birch. Such trees evaporate excess liquid through their leaves. Willows and birches dry out the wetlands, but sufficient drying will take several years. You can also cultivate cranberries, blueberries, and viburnum. When the area becomes drier, you should move on to growing your favorite plants.
Willows will decorate and drain the area Typically, reeds and sedges grow in wetlands. To combat them, you should drain the area in a suitable way, for example, by draining excess moisture into a nearby stream. These plants have a powerful root system, and only by removing it can new growth be avoided for a certain time. To do this, you will have to dig deep holes with your own hands, remove every root, and lay roofing material at the bottom of the holes. Bulrush seeds spread well and if the ground remains wet the problem will return.
Extreme measures
If none of the listed land reclamation methods gave the desired result, or you don’t want to wait, you can invite specialists. Using powerful pumps, they will quickly pump out unnecessary moisture, and the effect will be visible within 24 hours. However, this is an expensive service, and the waterlogging problem may return over time.
When you fail to win in the struggle for dry soil, you can come to terms with and overcome the excessive moisture of the soil. To do this, you can arrange a pond, surrounding it with plants that require moisture.
Blueberries, viburnum, cranberries, marsh iris, mint, buttercups, thuja, and heather grow well in humid conditions. A good addition would be maiden grapes, lush ferns, callas, and some varieties of orchid plants.
Methods to combat excess moisture there are a lot in the garden. However, when none of them helped, you will have to come to terms and create your own corner of nature. The owner of a swampy plot can successfully not only grow horticultural crops and flowers, but also to build a house. There are many proven solutions for this.
In our big country swamps and wetlands occupy significant areas. Ordinary plants, which constantly need oxygen to nourish their underground parts - roots and rhizomes, cannot grow and develop in swampy soils. Standing, motionless water quickly becomes deprived of oxygen, and most plants die. Only those that have managed to adapt to life in the swamp survive - swamp plants.
Meanwhile, in my own way chemical composition swamp soils are extremely fertile. They can produce high yields of a wide variety of agricultural crops. But to do this, you must first drain the swamp. Then barren lands harmful to human health will turn into rich fields and pastures. Fat cornfields will begin to sprout where recently only stunted marsh grasses and low-growing shrubs grew.
In our country, a lot of work is being done to drain and develop swamps. The agriculture of the socialist country has already received millions of hectares of new fertile land.
Swamp drainage is now almost entirely mechanized. Soviet scientists and engineers have created many wonderful machines that do all the hard, tedious and monotonous work for people.
How are swamps drained?
First of all, you need to remove excess moisture from the soil, that is, let it drain. And the water should, of course, flow into the nearest river. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to deepen and widen the bed of such a river, and in some places straighten it. Here you have to remove the soil mainly from under the water.
Nowadays, soil is removed from the river by floating and land excavators, as well as dredging units.
Floating excavators are used in cases where the width of the river allows dumping of excavated soil onto the shore. This soil thrown out by an excavator is leveled with bulldozers.
Depending on their performance, floating dredgers are used on both large and small rivers. The soil they extract from the bottom of the river, mixed with water - pulp - is pumped through pipes to the shore and spread over the surface of the soil. There is no need for a bulldozer here.
But standing swamp water will not flow into the river on its own even after its channel has been deepened and widened. For drainage, more canals have to be laid across the entire area of the swamp. First they dig the main, i.e. main, canals, then the collector canals. The latter collect water flowing from the swamp through a shallow closed or open drainage network and divert it into the main canal.
An open network of small drainage ditches serves to receive and drain surface water into collector channels, as well as to lower the groundwater level in the drained area.
Along with an open network of ditches, a closed network - drainages - is used when draining swamps. They are made of planks, pottery, fascine or mole. Board drainage is made from boards, which are knocked together in the form of rectangular pipes. Pottery consists of pottery, i.e. fired, clay pipes. Fascinous drainage is made from brushwood of various tree species, cleared of leaves and small branches. And finally, the mole channel is a system of underground channels resembling mole tunnels.
Main and collector channels with a depth of 1.5 to 2.5 m are laid by excavators specially adapted for working on swampy soil.
Plow ditchers work to lay an open shallow drainage network of ditches. This is a highly productive machine: in an hour it can dig ditches up to 2 km long and up to 80-100 cm deep.
A trench for laying the drainage is dug using a multi-bucket excavator or a plow ditch digger, then the drainage is lowered into it and covered with earth on top.
To lay mole drainage, mole plows and mole drainage machines have been created. They are driven by a tractor specially equipped for working on swampy soil.
Immediately after laying the canals, their slopes are strengthened with turf or sown with grass to avoid landslides.
But time passes, and open channels and ditches are gradually filled with sand or silt, overgrown with marsh grasses, become shallow, collapse and, as a result, begin to drain water poorly, or even become clogged. They have to be cleaned and repaired periodically.
So, the swamp has been drained. All of it was covered with a network of large and small canals. Standing water that has accumulated in the soil for years flows freely through these channels into the nearest river. But this is only the first part of the work of land reclamation workers - this is the name given to people involved in radical improvement. natural conditions lands with unfavorable water regime. Now the drained swamp needs to be reclaimed and prepared for sowing crops. To repair and clean ditches and canals, special cleaning machines are used: some for cleaning ditches of a small drainage network, others for cleaning collector and main canals.
The first step is to clear the soil of small bushes, stumps, hummocks and woody debris. You can't do much here with an ax and a shovel - this is a very labor-intensive task.
A brush cutter mounted on a tractor easily cuts bushes and small trees and removes hummocks.
However, it is beneficial to use brush cutters in cases where the swamp is overgrown not only with bushes, but also with small forests. If the bush does not have small forests, it is simply plowed deep into the ground. This work is performed by a unit for plowing bushes. Such a hydraulically controlled unit, driven by a tractor, consists of two parts: a hollow drum and a ski with a knife are hung in front of the tractor, and a plow body is hung behind it. The drum, rotating, tilts the bush forward and presses it to the soil surface; the knife cuts the layer with rhizomes in a vertical plane, and the plow body wraps the layer and plows the shrubs to a depth of 20 to 50 cm.
Uprooting stumps and removing woody debris is one of the most difficult jobs in the process of developing drained swamps. Stumps are uprooted by the direct pull of a tractor with hooks on chains or cables, or with a rooter, or with a powerful bulldozer that turns out huge stumps, or with a uprooter-collector.
After clearing the drained area of bushes, stumps, hummocks and woody debris, it begins to be prepared for agricultural use. It includes three processes: plowing, cutting and rolling.
Plowing peat soils drained swamp should be deep, with complete coverage of surface vegetation. For this purpose, special swamp plows with a wide grip are used, which plow the ground to a depth of 50 cm, while wrapping the layer and embedding all vegetation deep into the soil.
The layer of earth wrapped by the plow must then be loosened to the greatest possible depth so that oxygen can freely penetrate into the soil. The layer is loosened using disc harrows or special milling machines.
Then the surface of the drained swamp is rolled - leveled with special swamp loading rollers.
To drain the swamp, open main ditches are used, which are located along and along the perimeter central road. In addition, to ensure a common flow into the main drainage network along the boundaries garden plot you need to dig ditches 40 cm wide and 30 cm deep.
If it is possible to reach an agreement with a neighbor, a drainage ditch is made along its perimeter to drain the area. Another option is to dig a separate small hole, which is filled with solid waste and construction waste. From above it is covered with a layer of soil up to 30 m thick. Such a ditch helps remove excess water and lowers its level in the ground. It is often used for planting plants. A well up to three meters deep can play the same role.
The soil can be drained using a “hedge” of serviceberry, rose hip, hawthorn, willow, sea buckthorn, etc. In low areas it is advisable to plant fruit trees, which have a superficial root system.
If the site has not been used before, it must be developed. To do this, the top layer of earth is removed, which can be used to build a house, summer kitchen, barn and other household premises, laying paths in the garden. This land is used to fill pits for berries and fruit crops, as well as in the garden plot.
If tree stumps are removed using special equipment, then infertile layers of soil will appear on the surface, which will lead to compaction of the area and will force you to cultivate it for a long time. To reduce the amount of work in the stump, it is worth making a depression and filling it with ammonium nitrate. The hole closes at the top. After 2-3 months, the wood is set on fire using kerosene. The roots and stumps of the trees will burn, resulting in land suitable for planting in this place.
Drainage of territories
It is well known that a wetland is unpromising: it is impossible to grow or build anything on it, it can cause flooding of cellars or vegetable gardens located in the neighborhood, and, in addition, it often becomes a breeding ground for various diseases.
Therefore, for a long time, swampy areas were deserted, and now people try not to build anything near such areas.
In addition, a swamp is a complex ecosystem, and its drainage negatively affects environment, because the natural processes occurring in this place are disrupted, plants and animals die.
Current rates of marsh drainage
Despite this, draining swamps is beneficial to man, so he is actively involved in it. Crops can be grown on drained lands; they are saturated with oxygen and mineralized thanks to sulfuric acid produced by the oxidation of pyrite. Any crops can take root and grow well in enriched soil. Construction can also be carried out on drained land.
In fact, reclamation of wetlands is carried out in several main areas:
extraction of peat and other minerals;
preparation of land for Agriculture;
improvement of park areas, construction of football and golf fields; 
construction dewatering before the start of soil excavation for the construction of foundations and utility networks;
restoration of areas subject to industrial swamping that occurred during the construction of roads, embankments, etc.;
improvement of private construction sites and adjacent areas.
Swamp drainage is usually carried out on a large industrial scale. A completely different situation is when people in their personal plots. This is where modern drainage systems come to the rescue, presented various types pipes, wells and other necessary equipment.
Types of drainage systems used to drain swamps
Three methods have been developed and are actively used to drain swamps: open, closed and combined.
The open method is nothing more than a network of canals that drain excess ground and surface water from the developed site. Depending on the requirements for the territory, drainage trenches can be located:
along the perimeter - used for areas for development or landscaping;
over the entire surface - main purpose: mining.
The open method is quite simple, but ineffective in winter and adjacent periods of the year. It is also necessary to understand that for the effective operation of the entire complex of canals, a large amount of excavation work is required, primarily related to excavation and arrangement of slopes. Depth drainage trench must exceed the required water reduction level by at least 1.5 meters.
Important Note: roadside ditches are not a drainage system; their main purpose is to drain storm and flood waters.
More possibilities are provided by closed drainage, the functionality of which is not limited by the seasons.
Closed method much more complicated and requires special equipment, while the main advantage is the almost 100% guarantee of drying of both the surface and the entire soil layer located above the drainage pipelines. For this reason, underground drainage is used in almost all facilities where reliable and constant drainage is required, regardless of the amount of precipitation or time of year.
In the middle of the last century, pipes were made of cement, asbestos, ceramics or cast iron, but the development of technology gradually made its own adjustments.
Currently, the best and most relevant material for drainage pipes is polypropylene and polyethylene. Corrugated drainage pipes made of plastic are remarkable in their properties, different diameters, with and without additional protection from geotextiles.
Typically, single-walled or double-walled pipes are used to construct a drainage system, in which the outer layer is corrugated and the inner layer is smooth.
The very first stage of designing any system is design.
When drawing up a project, factors such as terrain features, scope of work, hydrological studies, vertical layout of the site and soil composition are taken into account. It is very important not to make a mistake with the choice of drainage pipes used, which primarily differ:
material - it can be polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP) or classic concrete;
wall design - single-walled with an internal corrugated surface or double-walled, corrugated on the outside and smooth on the inside;
type of delivery - pipes are supplied both in lengths and coils;
ring stiffness class - from SN2 to SN16.
Important steps in installing a drainage system
After approval of the project, you can begin the first stage of work - digging a trench for drainage. The width of the trench is determined as follows: the diameter of the pipe plus 20-40 cm. The depth is determined depending on the diameter of the pipe, the expected result and the purposes for which the drained area will be used. Thus, trees require a maximum pipe level of no more than one and a half meters, bushes - no more than 50-60 cm, lawn grass - no more than 20 cm. The deeper the drains are, the less moisture reaches the surface of the earth. The choice of drain diameter is also important. The optimal diameter is considered to be 110mm; this size reduces the cost of installing the system.
The degree of slope depends on the diameter of the pipe: the greater the slope, the smaller the diameter. This connection is due to the fact that the throughput of the pipe becomes greater as the diameter increases. The less water is in the pipe, the more difficult it is for it to flow down the main line. The minimum permissible slope for pipes (no matter what diameter) is at least 3 degrees. The average slope is 2-3 cm for every 10 m of pipe. Too much slope can cause holes to appear around the pipes, so you should be extremely careful when making calculations.
So, the trench is ready. The next stage is laying drainage pipes. First, a layer of sand is laid at the bottom of the trench, a layer of crushed stone is placed on it, then the pipe is laid. The top of the drain is filled in the reverse order: first with crushed stone, then with sand. A layer of soil is poured on top of the sand, and, lastly, a layer of turf. The arrangement of the layers should remain the same, since each of them plays a specific role. Due to a change in the order of layers of sand and crushed stone, the pipe may become unusable. Pipes need to be laid at a depth that does not freeze during the cold season.
The network of drains is discharged into a natural reservoir or an artificial reservoir. From the latter, it is subsequently pumped out by pumps or seeps into the lower layers of the soil if a filter is installed at the bottom of the reservoir.
If there are already buildings on the site, drainage should be laid at a distance of 0.5-1 m from the foundation.
The combined method of installing a drainage system is especially common in dacha and cottage areas. In fact, he is the most the best method to drain the soil and further regulate the level of moisture in it.
