Storm Sewer Repairs

The heavy rains we had on August 11, 2014 (post with photos) caused two sinkholes to develop on our property.  The sinkholes resulted from breaks in the underground storm sewer pipe that had gone undetected until then.

What happened that day is that the retention basin filled up from the 5.1 inches of rain we received that day, causing the water to back up into the storm sewers and catch basins.  By 9:00 p.m. some streets were covered from curb to curb with standing water that had no place to go until the retention basin eventually drained down later that night.  In the meantime, the backed-up storm water escaped from the breaks in the two buried pipes and as the water receded, it sucked the surrounding sand into the pipe, causing a small sinkhole behind 49995-50011 Regent and a much larger sinkhole between 49992-50008 Watling.

The Association hired a contractor who managed to get the storm sewer pipe at the smaller sinkhole repaired later in the fall of 2014.  However they found that the pipe at the larger sinkhole was much deeper and after an initial attempt had to be abandoned, they brought in heavy equipment last week to make the repairs.

In both cases, it's believed that the breaks in the plastic storm sewer pipe were caused by construction debris that was dropped directly onto the pipe during the backfilling of the storm sewer trench in 2004.

Landscaping repairs at the smaller sinkhole have already been made and the Board of Directors intends to have the landscaping repaired at the Watling sinkhole sometime after Labor Day.

Below are photos of the Watling sinkhole repairs that were made on Aug. 13, 2015.

The excavator had to dig a hole about 7 ft. deep and 12 ft. wide to expose and repair the broken storm sewer pipe.

The worker's foot is next to the break in the storm sewer pipe.

The broken section was cut out and replaced with a new section of 12 in. diameter pipe.

Monthly Rainfall totals

It may seem that this is the wettest summer we have had in a long time, but according to my rain gauge, we have yet to surpass last summer's total rainfall.

The chart below shows the May through September monthly totals I have recorded since 2009.  Through September 10, 2014, we have received 1.45 less inches of rain than fell during May through Sept. 2013.

UPDATE: With the one-quarter inch of rain we received early on the morning of Sept. 30th, we finally surpassed the 2013 summer rainfall total.  Here is the updated chart including all of the rain that fell after the 10th:

Heavy Weather

Looking west from my deck at 8:00 PM this evening.  As of 11:00 PM, the "frogs" say we have received 5.1 inches of rain today!  3.6 inches of that total fell between 6 and 9 PM.

At 9:00 PM the pond between the Manors and Kensington was filled all the way to the south end.

Lawn watering schedule changes

Depending on the settings, our lawn irrigation system uses between $300 and $400 worth of municipal water every night it runs. This has been an unusually hot and dry summer - through September 1st, Detroit has had 30 days with high temperatures at or above 90 degrees (compared to the annual average of 11 days) while Detroit's year-to-date precipitation is 3.58 inches below normal.  Here at the Manors, our monthly rainfall totals have been 3.45 inches in May, 1.05 inches in June, 6.30 inches in July and 4.70 inches in August for a four-month total of 15.50 inches.

However, as you can see from the chart (click it to enlarge), more than half of that rainfall (8.05 inches) came from just three separate storms.  With our sand, a two or three inch rainfall drains away very quickly and is of no greater benefit to the lawn than a half-inch of rain.

Because of the heavy watering schedule necessitated by this summer's weather (usually at the $400 per night setting), I've been reading our water meters regularly and it is clear that we are rapidly approaching the point where we will have used all of the $37,500 we have in our 2012 budget for watering the lawns. As of yesterday, we had only enough money left to water the landscaping for 12 more nights.  Therefore as of last night, I reprogrammed the automatic timers to run every other night beginning tonight.

I have been manually reprogramming the automatic sprinklers throughout the summer to stretch our budget dollars.  By my records, my reprogramming efforts have saved more than $4,000 worth of water so far this summer.  When there have been forecasts for a high chance of rain, I have turned the system off the night before to keep them from running unnecessarily.  Also, after the occasional good soakings, I have also stretched our dollars by reprogramming them to run every other night for a few days.  The last time I tried this I discovered that after dusk on the evening of Aug. 22nd, someone decided to manually operate a zone valve to provide "extra" water to the lawns in front of their units.  This is unacceptable behavior and it has caused me to decide that in 2013 I will no longer "bust my hump" by reprogramming the irrigation system every time there is an opportunity to save this association some budget money by not watering.

Please do not tamper with the sprinkler system to use extra water or I will be forced to shut the entire system down at the water meters and lock the covers.  I will not allow this association to overspend its budget for municipal water.

A dry June

According to the National Weather Service, 1.31 inches of rain fell at Metro Airport during the month of June 2012, compared to the normal average of 3.52 inches.

Here at the Manors, my rain gauge collected only 1.05 inches of rain during June, which is 2.5 inches below normal for the month. [UPDATE: we received 3.8 inches of rain on Tuesday, July 3rd]

Daily rainfall here at the Manors - May & June 2012

Since the sprinkler system was made operational six weeks ago on May 18th, we have only received a total of 1.25 inches of rain. Basically, it is our sprinkler system that is keeping our lawns green and preventing them from going totally dormant.

I read each of our water meters yesterday and again today.  Using the Township's billing rate of $3.431 per hundred cubic feet of water,  it cost us $397 to water all of the lawns last night.

According to the experts, proper turf management involves watering the lawn with 1" of water per week. This water can come from either rainfall or the sprinkler system.  However a lawn could need more, depending on factors such as soil type, sun exposure, large tree root systems, etc.  For example, a lawn in sandy soil such as ours may need as much as 2" of water per week, whereas a lawn area that is in shade for most of the day may only need one-half inch of water per week.

Since the beginning of June, I have been running the sprinkler system zones at 120% of their normal programmed times ($331 per night) and on June 28th I increased it to 140% ($397 per night).  That means that a typical front yard zone that is normally set to run for 20 minutes will run for 24 minutes at 120% and for 28 minutes at 140%.  At 100%, the lawn in that front yard zone would receive about 0.2 inch of water each night, or about 1.4 inches per week, while at 140%, it is receiving about 2.0 inches per week.

Because of the design of the irrigation system, a rear yard zone that runs for 20 minutes will only deliver about about 0.13 inches of water and in some areas it is even less.  Where we have rear yard sprinkler head on the same zone with heads in the front or side yard, I have to set the timer to avoid over-watering the front or side yard, even if it means dry spots will develop in the rear yard.   Where a zone consists of all rear yard sprinkler heads, I set it to run for 30 or 40 minutes at 100%, depending on whether it includes half-circle or full-circle rotary heads. Actually, they should be set to run for about 40 and 65 minutes at 100% to receive the same amount of water as a front yard zone, however with only $37,500  available to spend in our budget for water this year, I have to manage our water usage judiciously.

This year's budget line item for water was set based upon the average amount we have spent on water over the past four years, plus 9% to accommodate the rate increase that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2012.  From May 18th through June 30th, I calculate that we have used $14,573 worth of water and we still have two-thirds of the season to go.  If the hot and dry weather continues for the rest of the summer and we continue at this rate of water usage, we will exhaust our budget line item amount for water sometime just before Sept. 1st.

Rainfall

Since I measure the rainfall we receive here at the Manors with my rain gauge and track it with a spreadsheet, it is very easy for me to graph the daily rainfall amounts for the season and post it to the Internet. Click on the image above to enlarge the graph, which was current through 10:00 AM, July 20th.

UPDATED Oct. 1, 2010

I've continued to update this graph on a regular basis and you can view the latest version by clicking here.

Rainfall totals by month:

May 2010 - 4.5 inches
June 2010 - 4.0 inches
July 2010 - 4.85 inches
August 2010 - 0.45 inch
Sept. 2010 - 4.37 inches

I wish it would rain!

"I Wish it Would Rain!" was a 1967 hit by Detroit's Temptations and I've been humming that melody a lot lately.

Because of the abnormally dry spring, this year we had to start watering the lawns on April 20th, which was a full month earlier than 2009. Since then, we have received 9.3 inches of rainfall in my backyard rain gauge, 60% of which fell over four separate dates: May 2, 11, 13 and June 5 (click on the chart above for a better view of all of the rainfall I've measured from April 20th through July 3rd).

Lately, the rainstorms seem to pass either to our north or south, leaving us with hardly enough rain to skip a watering cycle. The National Weather Service records at their Detroit Metro Airport location show an official rainfall total over that period of 11.6 inches, 2.3 inches more than we've received here in Shelby Township.

Because of the early start this spring and Shelby Township's recent 9% increase in water rates, I've been closely regulating our watering frequency and lengths to keep us within budget. As of July 2nd, I have increased the watering duration by 20% on all zones to get us through the current and forecasted hot and dry spell. I also moved the starting times earlier so that the last zones will finish by 6:00 AM, which is when the water pressure begins to drop.

I am hoping to avoid adding a second watering cycle for as long as I can, particularly since the Township has asked everyone to voluntarily avoid watering their lawns between the hours of 6:00 AM and 9:00 PM. UPDATE: second watering cycle was added July 5th (read this post for more information).