Where do rain gutter downspouts go?

[Glacier]

In my house I have rain barrels for my shed (which are now full thanks to the 35 mm of rain so far this month), but the gutters around my house go straight down into the ground. Where do these things normally go? A drain field somewhere? City storm drain? Sewer? Hell?

[GordonH]

If your house has a basement, I would suggest puttin extension on those downspouts away from your foundation/basement walls.

[Glacier]

If your house has a basement, I would suggest puttin extension on those downspouts away from your foundation/basement walls.

They go into the ground.

[oneh2obabe]

The main reason for burying the downspout is to carry the water away from the foundation. To do this, the downspout needs to be angled slightly away from the house. In areas with plenty of rainfall, it could empty into a French drain. This is essentially a trench filled with gravel that lets the water trickle into the earth.

[Bsuds]

I have the same thing and I assumed it went into the storm drain on the street. Have never had any problems with it going through the foundation.

[GordonH]

^^^ it depends if Glacier lives in a city or not.

[Bsuds]

I thought he lived on/in a Glacier...thus his handle.

[flamingfingers]

Your foundation should have perimeter drainage - that is pea gravel and weeping tile all the way around the house and sloped to carry water away from the foundation which should have been waterproofed with a water barrier placed before pouring the concrete basement floor. But because I am such a paranoid personality, I usually interrupt the downspouts and put in an elbow and a downspout section to direct rainwater well away from the house. That's my opinion and I am sticking to it!

[Bpeep]

May go into "dry" wells.
That's where mine go.

[Randall T]

Agree. More than likely the water is piped into a drywell. If you have a lot of foliage around, there is a chance the system could get plugged from leaves and stuff building up in it. You can get fittings for vertical downspouts that divert debris away before it enters the underground drainpipe.

[I Think]

The best thing to do with downspouts, and this is mandated in many places, is to let them run onto a concrete tile placed on the ground under the outfall, sloped away from the house. You can buy concrete tiles shaped with a trough for this purpose, at most large hardware stores.

Of course if you want to store rainwater barrels are good.

[Glacier]

I would need like 500 barrels to collect all my rainwater throughout the year!

Speaking of water, I left the water pipe on max to my fish pond all night by accident. Flooded my place out pretty good. The overflow drain on the fish pond got covered with leaves, and had gold fish escape and swim all over my yard as the water flowed everywhere. Water was even lapping up against my house, but thankfully none got into my basement (at least none that I can see). I probably wasted 1000 gallons of water, but at least the fish pond is now crystal clear as all the dirt and algae build up from winter got flushed away!

[onestop67]

Downspouts simply go into the ground. The water is absorbed in the soil. Hopefully your house exterior has been waterproofed, and the exterior is graded downward, away from the house, for proper drainage. Also, hopefully there are proper weeping systems along the side of the house.

None of these are tied into the sewer or water system.

[I Think]

Onestop, many older houses dump downspouts right into the sewer or storm drains.
The modern way is to dump the water on the ground directed away from the foundation.

[Merry]

I think is correct.

It all depends on where you live. Some municipalities require the water to be piped into the storm system, because it is in a clay area and the ground doesn't absorb the water very well.

Other municipalities don't allow it to be piped into the storm system, because it can contribute to the overwhelming of the system.

It all depends on the type of ground, and the local bylaws.

Check with your municipal office.