laying foundations for a small conservatory Information, tips and advice on various items of work wear, safety clothing and footwear

[neilstone]

I want to lay foundations for a conservatory and know that the footings need to be 500mm deep,however when i started to explore by digging up the ground there is a soakaway pipe that runs through my garden and into my neighbours garden (i live in a terrace house),this is approx125mm from where my foundatins will be.the problem that i have come across is that when i started to dig down i got 350mm deep and came across water i bailed it out and it came back but only 250mm deep, i have been told this is the water table but im not so suer it is.????

[eeffttees]

You may have a leaking fresh water pipe (maybe an old lead pipe) or a cracked drain, if you get in touch with your local water company and ask if you can send them a sample of the water they may be able to test it to see if it is clean drinking water or is it water from the water table,

You can also put a water dye down any nearby drains and see if it the dye comes through, word of advice is to put dye down one drain at a time not all the drains together so you can trace it back to which drain is leaking if they are leaking,

If both task fail then it may be your water table rising, but in any case the local water board will be able to identify the of water it is. rain or fresh.

The other thing to look out for is if you have any higher ground, if so you may get water seeping through the ground,

Just something's to look out for, before you can put it down to what it is.

Hope it helps