Is It Legal to Drain out Storm Water from The Gutter to The Front Yard Garden?

metalslug on 18/02/2019 - 11:05

Hi,

The front right corner gutter of my house has a down pipe hole (only) and missing a down pipe due to negligence by previous owner and age of the house. During rain/storms, the water used to pour down straight to the front and seep into the bottom of the house. I have temporarily blocked it and currently the storm water drains out of the other 3 down pipes around the house. However, I want to connect a down pipe at the front to prevent any gutter overflow as we are approaching Autumn soon.

Recently called a plumber to try and connect it to the storm water drain, we had a look around and the only closest storm water drain hole is on the side and quite far from the front gutter down pipe hole. Adding a new storm drain hole would be hard, because the previous owner has concreted the side of the house. Hence, the plumber suggested to fix a down pipe and run another long pipe along the side of the fence and divert it into the front yard garden (around 10 feet away from the house). There is also concern that there will be a pool of water in the front of the garden. It should not be an issue for my neighbor as we have a raised level of soil away from the front yard garden on either side of our properties.

Is this is legal and is council approval required in order?

If anyone could suggest a better method would be much appreciated.

Home & Garden Plumbing

Comments

  • HighAndDry on 18/02/2019 - 11:10
    +1

    Legally, no. Rainwater gutters (from memory - don't quote me) have to be connected to stormwater drains to comply with building regulations.

    Instead of a new stormwater drain hole, why not just add piping to connect that downpipe to the existing one, if you're going to be running pipes anyway?

    • metalslug on 18/02/2019 - 13:37

      I was thinking of the second option - but the existing one is around 10m away from this down pipe hole. Running a long pipe and connecting to the same would be almost the same.

      • HighAndDry on 18/02/2019 - 14:03

        Other than the rainwater tank idea, if it's basically the same to discharge into stormwater drain or into front yard, I'd discharge it into the stormwater drain because having water going into the ground next to your house could lead to a range of issues. (Not an engineer/architect/etc, just from what I've seen).

        • metalslug on 18/02/2019 - 14:05

          Would it be an issue even if its around 10 feet away from the walls? like closer to the street sort of?

          • HighAndDry on 18/02/2019 - 14:06
            +1

            @metalslug: Without knowing how the ground and soil on your block and your house drains, no way to really know. Council might have something to say about discharging (additional) stormwater onto the street. If it's comparable to price, connecting the downpipe to existing stormwater drain is the option that minimises the risk of possible issues. (Imo)

            • metalslug on 18/02/2019 - 16:26

              @HighAndDry: Well the council were not too happy about letting the storm water onto the street, given that I have a storm water drain along the easement at the back. They would apparently decline if I apply for any permit to do so. Well that leaves me with the option you mentioned - connect to existing storm water drain.

    • r2160 on 17/08/2022 - 16:57

      Not strictly true. New homes cannot, however, it depends on the vintage of the house.

      Houses around 1970-1980 had the stormwater directed to the gutter as this was the accepted practice.

  • GG57 on 18/02/2019 - 11:14
    +8

    Install a rain water tank?

    • GangGang on 18/02/2019 - 11:19

      That's what I was think. If there is space in the back/side.

    • Bren20 on 11/01/2022 - 23:23

      Rainwater tanks still need a stormwater outlet

  • geek001 on 18/02/2019 - 11:18
    +1

    I don't know about Melbourne, but in Brisbane, you are allowed to run stormwater into the street. Hard to say without a diagram. :)

      • geek001 on 18/02/2019 - 14:23

        Thanks, your plumber probably said to run the pipe along the fence because it is probably easier/cheaper than digging a trench to your boundary. It is down to personal preference really, I would go the trench route, mainly because I mind the sight of downpipes along my fence, but if you don't really mind, or strapped for cash, maybe just go with what your plumber said.

  • Hithere on 18/02/2019 - 11:22

    It'll depend on your council but it's quite legal as long as the storm water isn't discharging into a neighbours property you should be OK.

    Your plumber will have to sign a compliance certificate when completed so they won't do anything that's not kosher. (unless it's a cashie)

    However if you've got the room rain water tanks would definitely be the way to go.

    • metalslug on 18/02/2019 - 13:38

      Unfortunately, there isn't any room for a tank. The water would not be discharging into the neighbours due to the elevated site fence away from the front yard on both sides.

  • one man clan on 18/02/2019 - 11:36
    +7

    Putting aside the legality of it, draining a downpipe into a garden seems like a bad idea no? Sounds like a good way to create a swamp, a flood risk, and cause potential damage to the house.

    • [Deactivated] on 18/02/2019 - 12:20

      Depends on rainfall on how the front yard drains water, ie type of soil.

    • Almost Banned on 18/02/2019 - 14:24

      Not sure how this would apply to diverting it onto the garden, but magically not apply to diverting it into a soakwell???
      Either way the water is ending up in one location a short distance from the house - but in one case its on top of the ground, and on the other below.

      • one man clan on 18/02/2019 - 14:55
        +3

        And in one case a soak well is a specifically engineered solution to allow water to slowly drain into the surrounding soil. The other is dumping water on top of the soil and hoping it will eventually drain away. Speaking from experience, the latter is a bad idea.

        • metalslug on 18/02/2019 - 16:28

          Well the council don't recommend diverting water to the garden unfortunately. Neither they will allow me to divert it onto the discharge point to the street.

  • onetwothreefour on 18/02/2019 - 11:41

    As above, can you not drain it to the street? It's a fairly straightforward DIY job, just a bit (a lot) of digging and connecting some pipe together with glue.

  • whooah1979 on 18/02/2019 - 12:03
    +1

    Why waste good water down the drain then one may use it to water the lawn?

    • [Deactivated] on 18/02/2019 - 15:34

      There's a fine line between watering the lawn and topping up the dam.

      • whooah1979 on 18/02/2019 - 18:54

        Sydney dams are up 5% from last year. It doesn't make sense to top it up and then pay to use it again.

        • [Deactivated] on 18/02/2019 - 21:10

          I'm thinking that the dam is your lawn.

  • serpserpserp on 18/02/2019 - 12:13
    +1

    Need MS Paint image to understand soz.

  • Presence on 18/02/2019 - 12:40

    What did your local council say when you called and asked? Unless you tell us where you live, the size of your block, etc we are just guessing.

  • [Deactivated] on 18/02/2019 - 21:41
    -2

    This whole thread is confusing me…In WA you are not allowed to discharge rain water into the street and you have to put in soak wells. You crazy Victorians with your reasonably priced everything and hipster beards.

    • [Deactivated] on 19/02/2019 - 09:20

      reasonably priced everything

      Real estate.

  • tonyp on 19/02/2019 - 09:05

    The thread is confusing me as well, in Qld it can discharge to the street or the existing storm pipes or to soakage pits ( might depend on council and block sizes ). Many houses ( govt houses ) built in the 70s didnt bother with that and drained straight to the ground. It may well be evaporation rates in the hotter states. But using it / storing it is the best option. To quote the qovt - its a valuable natural resource, every drop is precious, greenhouse gas warming is real , rainfall is going to reduce, and your all going to fry down there like we do !!!!

  • gth on 19/02/2019 - 09:34
    +1

    Route it to one of your existing stormwater drains - you just need to decide how.

    Don't risk soil/foundation issues by dumping rainwater onto the ground near the house.

  • thwarted on 19/02/2019 - 13:39

    How about a raingarden planter box? https://www.melbournewater.com.au/media/448/download

  • 82norm on 19/02/2019 - 21:35

    What about putting in an ag pit, 90x90mm fill with blue metal, overflow that to an ag pipe around the lawn. Is the garden slopping away from the house? Councils in Sydney are full of bureaucracy and waste of time. No one will know what you’ve done, unless u have a nosy neighbour and a stickler for rules. Use KISS principle and don’t overthink it. Apply commonsense.

    NB: Ag pipe should be around 300-400mm deep, use a sock to prevent blockage and surround with 10mm blue metal. Run it around the perimeter of garden.

    • Euphemistic on 20/02/2019 - 07:13

      90x90mmfill with blue metal

      Should be cheap enough, you’ll only need about 20-30stones.

      • 82norm on 20/02/2019 - 21:14

        🤭my bad 900mm x900mm… haha…

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