I'm planning on burying a 55gal plastic drum for my shop drain outside of my shop. I'm planning on getting the top of it 14-15inches below grade. So I'm assuming my 2in pvc will be around 12-14 below grade coming out of the shop. Any issues with driving a small utility tractor over it in the future or should I try and get it deeper.
Pvc french drain depth
- Thread starter Reit38
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dcg9381
Well-known member
Our main water line is 2" PVC, it's probably 12-18" below grade in some places. I regularly drive a Polaris over and have driven over it with a 6000lb pickup. It may depend on how "expansive" your soil is though, the trench here is pretty much limestone.
I don't think I'd worry about your basic lawn tractor..maybe not a compact tractor either.
You could always go schedule 80 if you're worried about it.
That being said, you'd be surprised how much water comes off buildings. We capture about 3000 gallons per inch of rain of the shop, not quite the same as a french drain, but 55 gallons ain't much capacity. If this is a gray water drain thing, I get it.
I wouldn't drive over the drum.
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could always place a patio paver on top of the drum for extra support , but I bet you're ok without it , too
Shiftless
Well-known member
By “shop drain” are you referring to a place to drain your shop sink?
racecougar
Well-known member
Is frost depth not a concern? Your location says Iowa.
This is for the Floor drain
I would assume it will have drain holes in the bottom ?
Filling it full of stone like a dry well ?
Filling it full of stone like a dry well ?
PopcornSutton
Well-known member
That would be a real french drain. Sounds like he just wants a drain line, but how will the barrel be emptied?
larry4406
Well-known member
Frost depth is key.
My quick google fu says 58" for Iowa, so I think you are a bit shallow....
My quick google fu says 58" for Iowa, so I think you are a bit shallow....
Sounds like a good plan and similar to what I would do.
French drain is a trench with or without a perforated drain line in the bottom filled with stone to carry water away.
Drywell is an area or container full stone designed to hold water after it is moved away and slowly release it into the surrounding soil.
OP will have a 2" line underground to the plastic drum. Drilling the holes along the bottom will allow it to slowly drain. The stone helps with the dissipation of water and helps to also keep the barrel from floating out of the ground.
racecougar
Well-known member
So you're doing a dry well connected to your floor drain. As said by myself and larry4406 above, if this is in Iowa, as your location states, I'd suggest going deeper for frost depth purposes.
PopcornSutton
Well-known member
The OP didn't say he intended on any stone fill originally, just a 2" pvc pipe and pvc drum, and nothing about stone or holes in the drum.
dcg9381
Well-known member
We have a "gray water" drain for the shop. Around here there are code / water discharge requirements. But what I did was use 4" drain PVC all along the south side of the shop foundation and back filled it with septic rock. It's "tucked" in against the foundation so running over it isn't an issue. Probably not as good as a drain system where you could pop the top and clean it out though...
Yes, that is why I asked about it in post #7.
Sometimes, you have to ask a few questions to get more information to help a fellow member out.
39" tall sounds about right.
I believe most plastic drums have one bung that is NPT and the other one is something coarser.
I believe most plastic drums have one bung that is NPT and the other one is something coarser.
Just measured again and it is 39. I plan on using the NPT fitting with the pvc
racecougar
Well-known member
The one pictured above is only catching water from the little trench drain in front of the walk-in door, and that building has a full foundation 12" deeper than local frost depth.