Drainage Services in Christchurch

Christchurch sits where the Stour and the Avon meet before reaching the harbour, and that confluence defines its drainage. Properties in Somerford, Stanpit, Burton and along both riverbanks sit on floodplain gravels with a shallow water table, and after sustained winter rain the ground is effectively saturated. Surface-water systems designed for ordinary rainfall then have nowhere to discharge, and soakaways in that ground stop working entirely until levels drop.

The historic centre around the Priory has some of the oldest drainage in the area, with clay and in places brick-built runs that predate any modern standard. Ground movement in soft alluvial deposits displaces joints in that kind of pipework easily, and the mature trees along the river walks and older residential roads find those gaps quickly. Towards Highcliffe and Mudeford the pattern changes again: cliff-top properties on Barton Clay, where slope movement and long private runs to the highway sewer both cause problems.

Our approach here is to establish groundwater levels and pipe condition before recommending anything. Rebuilding a soakaway on saturated floodplain gravel rarely solves the problem; understanding where the water is actually going usually does.