Alternate Ways to Keep Your Basement Dry with Permaculture Practices & Soil!
Did you know that in the contiguous United States, annual precipitation has increased at a rate of .2 inches per decade since 1901? Extreme precipitation events are outpacing this trend. The Midwest and Northeast have experienced the strongest increases in heavy precipitation events.
Pennsylvania has become warmer and wetter over the past 120 years. The average state temperature has climbed nearly 2° F since 1901, and PA’s average annual rainfall has increased about 10 percent, while extreme weather events have increased. New Jersey has been 8 percent above average during the last 10 years.
Increased rainfall helps raise levels of ground water and reservoirs, which prevents desertification by protecting the soils and recharging the water tables. On a less positive note, heavy precipitation includes crop damage, soil erosion, and an increase in flood risk due to heavy rains. Increased heavy precipitation also can lead to flooded basements, mold and damaged property. Not to mention the time and money you may end up spending to either clean up or prevent this issue in the future?
This Winter, our basement flooded after a 3-day marathon of heavy rain. We spent hours cleaning this up and throwing out damaged items. It seemed like every time it rained, we had to repeat the same time consuming and quite frankly, gross process of sucking up and disposing of the gallons and gallons of water that had absorbed into the carpeted side of our finished basement. We knew this constant moisture in our basement was not good for our health and we started discussing options. We looked into what it typically costs to get a basement water-proofed as well as how much installing a sump pump would cost. On average, to get a 500 square foot basement waterproofed is anywhere from $2500-$5000. A sump pump can cost anywhere from $1200- $2500 depending upon what type you need, if you need a reverse pump as well as battery back up. For our situation, we would have had to spend closer to $4000 because of the labor drilling through the concrete floor, plus we needed a submersible sump pump with a battery backup as well as a reverse pump. Ouch $4000! We did not want to have to spend this money on something like this if we did not have to.
So while we were weighing out our options, I put my permaculture design hat on (is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems), and observed the area of our property where the water was seeping into the basement.
The photo associated with this blog shows the problem area in question. As you can see, the front of our property slopes directly towards the front brick wall of our house. When it rains, the water flows toward this front brick wall and flows straight down to our basement. I observed this sloping and decided to try out installing a berm to help redirect the water away from my house. Berms are a simple water harvesting earthwork technique that are laid perpendicular to land slope, designed to intercept rainwater running down the slope and infiltrate this water in a localized area. I used logs and top soil to construct the berm and then planted micro clover on top to help hold the berm in place over time as well as produce a great source of nitrogen to my soil. The best part? I did this for a fraction of the cost it would have cost to get a new sump pump installed and I set up my property for success in the future. If you want to learn more about this water harvesting technique and how it can help you on your property, contact www.soil organic solutions.com !