Jill Thomas, Bekesbourne, Kent
Posted 15/01/2009
If your home is at risk of groundwater flooding, you will usually get some notice of the rising levels. For instance, a cellar floor might start to have damp patches which gradually join together and then become puddles which coalesce into a complete layer of water which starts to rise. You may be able to pump it away, but you will need a sump hole for the pump. You may need more than one pump and it would be a good idea to have a spare in case one breaks down. A petrol generator is also useful to provide electricity should there be a power cut.
I learned these lessons over a week in December 2000 when the water started rising in the Nailbourne valley. Without pumping the water would have risen to over a metre in my cellar which is where we have our central heating boiler, electric meter and consumer unit. No one locally had the experience (see below) to give me all the necessary info at once. I well remember one council official telling me (helpfully) that I should be able to bucket the water out. As we pumped for all of December and all of February that was not the answer!!
We've boarded over our sump hole now but still have all the equipment ready for the next flood which may not be for 40 years. One of the problems is making sure that the community remembers how to cope with floods. Individual householders are very willing to gloss over things when it comes to selling houses.
I learned these lessons over a week in December 2000 when the water started rising in the Nailbourne valley. Without pumping the water would have risen to over a metre in my cellar which is where we have our central heating boiler, electric meter and consumer unit. No one locally had the experience (see below) to give me all the necessary info at once. I well remember one council official telling me (helpfully) that I should be able to bucket the water out. As we pumped for all of December and all of February that was not the answer!!
We've boarded over our sump hole now but still have all the equipment ready for the next flood which may not be for 40 years. One of the problems is making sure that the community remembers how to cope with floods. Individual householders are very willing to gloss over things when it comes to selling houses.
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