Do you guys do drainage questions?

RCraig said:

I am guessing that I would dig a hole (?maybe a foot deep or so) next to my driveway. I would insert the white thing you kindly included to show me what a dry well is.

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The drywell you would need (like the one in that picture) would likely need a hole about 10 feet deep and as big around.

RCraig said:

One thing that is confusing me is that the white dry well in the picture has a hose attached to it. I am confused as to whether this hose is for water flowing into the dry well or water flowing out of the dry well. Sorry, my ignorance in this regard in legendary! Also in my mind is the question of where the other end of this hose would go to?

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That is actually a pipe, and the flow of water could be going either way. A first pipe (or even possibly several) would be letting water from a feeder trench into the drywell, and a second could be letting water pass on through to any other part of the overall system.

RCraig said:

I am guessing that process stone means some type of gravel-like stone. So I would put that into the hole around the dry well. Then I guess I would cover it up with dirt and replant grass on top.

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Yes.

RCraig said:

Another thing that is not clear to me is what the dry well actually does ...

Is the idea that the water accumulates in the dry well during the rainstorm, and then percolates away later on when things are drying out?

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Yes, and with size and soil determining its ability to handle a given volume.

RCraig said:

A final worry is that I don't think that the drywell, at least as I am envisioning it, will get the water to the storm drain which is very close by ...

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An overflow pipe into the storm drain might be possible. Or, maybe you could skip the drywell altogether and just have an extension of the storm drain placed under a grating in your driveway.

Ruth,
The drywell in the picture is actually quite a bit larger than you are thinking.
That little hose is actually a 4" diameter pipe!

ok, now I see

My thinking was off by a scale factor of 10-fold or more. I am thinking that some way of hooking up to the storm drain that is just a bit down from the driveway might be easier. I think my husband would definitely notice if I dig a 10 foot hole in the front lawn to put the drywell in. The idea of some type of grating, I have to think more about this. Seems as if it should work. No matter which way turns out to be optimal, it is clear to me that this is going to require quite a bit of money.

Thank you so much leejosepho and Redwood for your helpful explanations. At the moment, the whole place is getting covered by snow and I may not have to think about any of it turning to liquid for quite some time! Ruth

It might be hanging around in its present state for a while....

We've been getting hammered with the white crud since about noon...

White Christmas

Thanks again for all the great advice. Best wishes to all for happy plumbing in the new year. Ruth