Q: I have a sump pump for my basement that pumps out about a gallon of water once or twice a day. I am wanting to pipe the water out into my yard but I don't want a big hole where it drains. I was thinking about digging a hole/ditch at the end of the pipe and putting some rock to fill in the hole. Any suggestions? What size hole/ditch etc? Also, should I just use straight pvc pipe (2 1/2") or would it be better to use the perforated stuff?

You'd be creating a French drain and that would be fine. I trenched 3' down with a Ditchwitch and put in 200' for perforated black plastic pipe that's fabric covered. I pump a great deal of water so I needed to get this as far away as possible. If you decide to use perforated pipe be sure its fabric covered otherwise it will fill with silt on a few short years.

Your french drain,(see image) sounds like a great idea. Treat it exactly like a drain field using 3 inch perforated PVC pipe. Regards, Tom

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Originally Posted by ballengerb1

You'd be creating a French drain and that would be fine. I trenched 3' down with a Ditchwitch and put in 200' for perforated black plastic pipe thats fabric covered. I pump a great deal of water so I needed to get this as far away as possible. If you decide to use perforated pipe be sure its fabric covered otherwise it will fill with silt on a few short years.

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It freezes in the winter here, but 3' down should be enough right?

You will have significantly less sump water once it has frozen outside. My frost line is 42" but a 3' trench working fine for this sump drain.

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Originally Posted by ballengerb1

You will have significantly less sump water once it has frozen outside. My frost line is 42" but a 3' trench working fine for this sump drain.

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Should my pipe be down at the 3' line, or in the middle like at the 1 1/2 foot line

I laid the pipe on the botton of the trench with only a small amount of gravel above and below. It would take a year or two for your yard to fully settle after you back fill.