The local council and the water board are usually unable to do anything about high groundwater levels. Homeowners are responsible for ensuring proper drainage and making their homes watertight. Pumping often does not help.
Homeowners are responsible for ensuring that water drains away from their homes and gardens. This also applies to making your home watertight. It is often not possible to make your crawl space watertight. If water has collected there due to a high water table, it is best to wait until the water level drops again.
The local council or the water board cannot do anything about the high groundwater levels. This is because the ground is so wet that it is saturated. As a result, the water cannot sink any further into the ground.
The water you pump out of the ground will return, especially when it rains heavily. The groundwater level is currently high. The space under the house and the garden are directly connected to the groundwater. If you pump out groundwater from under the house and in the garden, fresh groundwater will flow back into the crawl space. It is therefore best not to do this. Cellars are not in direct contact with the groundwater. You can, however, pump this water out. It may be discharged into the garden or into the area around your property, such as a verge. In cold weather, take care to ensure this water does not freeze on pavements or the road.
If there are problems with water in the neighbourhood, the local council can help. We try to prevent water from collecting on the streets by clearing drains and keeping pipes clear. Sometimes we dig extra ditches or remove obstacles.
The water board is responsible for the water levels in the ponds, canals, streams and springs. If too much water flows out of them, they try to drain it away as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, because the ground is saturated, it is not possible to control the groundwater level in the same way.
We are receiving reports of problems with infiltration crates that are not draining water properly. As a result, the crawl space is filling up with water. As a resident, you are responsible for your own infiltration crates.
If your property was built around 2005 or later, it may have infiltration crates to collect rainwater in the garden. The water seeps slowly into the ground through these crates. During heavy rain, the ground is sometimes unable to absorb enough water. The crates must have an (emergency) overflow into the garden or the street. If there is no emergency overflow, or if it is blocked, this can cause problems.
Some reports indicate that the groundwater level in public spaces is low enough. Yet there are crawl spaces there that are full of water. The infiltration crates are unable to drain the water properly due to poor installation. For example, soil improvement measures must always be carried out around infiltration crates, such as using drainage sand. The coarse texture of the sand allows water to flow easily into the ground. Alternatively, a pipe may be required to reach a soil layer that absorbs water more effectively.
In new neighbourhoods in Apeldoorn, built from 2005 onwards, the sewer system is intended solely for waste water. Since that year, it has not been permitted to connect rainwater to the waste water sewer. This is because sewerage systems installed after 2005 are separate systems: the waste water sewer cannot handle rainwater, and this can cause a nuisance for you or your neighbours. For example, this could result in the toilet overflowing. If you do connect rainwater to the system, we may require you to disconnect it from the sewage system.
All this rainfall has replenished the groundwater beneath the Veluwe. The drought of recent years has now been fully offset by the heavy rainfall.
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