River from crawl space

[Seanis]

Hi guys,

First time poster not sure if I’m in the right place but here goes...

I have a cottage with a crawl space. Pretty moist under there. I recently installed a cistern and started digging a 4’ deep trench towards the house to run the water line to the jet pump in the crawl space. When I reached the foundation, a waterfall came rushing from between the blocks and the footing that the blocks were sitting on. Presumably it drained that area of the crawl space and eventually stopped.

I went in the crawl space and dug a hole on that side to receive the pipe. In the following days, said hole filed up with water.

I rented a drill and proceeded to drill a 2.5” hole in the footing to run the pipe. I drilled from the outside in. The hole that I had dug on the inside drained through the hole I had just drilled and flowed down the trench and into the perimeter of the 4500 gallon concrete tank. The tank didn’t care.

I do have a sump pump in the crawl space but everything is clay so that sump pump clearly only drains a small area.

Here is what I’m thinking: leave the 2.5” hole (with the pipe running through it) unsealed. Throw some 3/4” gravel in the trench and around the cistern. Throw a corrugated perforated pipe in the same area leading away from the home and surrounding the cistern. Throw gravel on top and then backfill.

My idea is that instead of sealing the drill hole with hydraulic cement, I should keep it open and use it to help drain the crawl space.

Any thoughts? Structural integrity of the footing could be compromised? Bad idea to send water towards the cistern? (My feeling is that it is better there than under my home.) I highly doubt my cistern could ever float. It’s a monster and will always have water in it...can I leave a small open drainage hole in my footing???

Thanks guys!

 

[Sylvan]

Good luck

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Boycedrilling]

Yes, you need to get that water accumulating under your cottage drained away. Would I drain it to the exterior of my drinking water reservoir? Uh, no.

 

[Fitter30]

Since not knowing what the cistern is made out of is there a possibility that the cistern could run low on water and the ground could be wet enough that the tank might float. Seen swimming pools and tanks float.