Serving Evanston
Groundwater & Basement Water Intrusion in Evanston, IL
Basement seepage, failed sumps, and hydrostatic pressure against the foundation are extracted and dried, and the path from the ground is identified so the loss does not repeat. Groundwater and basement seepage are extracted and dried only after the path from the soil is identified — a wall, a slab, a drain, or a failed sump. Drying the interior without stopping that path returns the same water to the same floor.
Frequently asked questions
The lake is right there and the city drains away from it.
It does, which surprises people: the ground falls west from the shore, so most of the city sheds inland into a system that has to carry it a long way rather than a short one. Being beside a very large body of water is no help at all to a street that does not drain toward it.
The university is a large part of the ground here.
It is, and a campus of that size is largely roof, path and parking with its own drainage arrangements. Where it sits upstream of residential streets, what it sheds arrives quickly and in volume. It also has its own records and its own staff, which makes it a more answerable neighbor than most large landowners.
The city was built out before anyone separated the sewers.
It was, and the work to separate them has run for decades and reached different streets at different times. Where it has not, a heavy cell still fills one pipe with both roof water and waste. Whether a particular block has been done is a question the city can answer, and it decides which remedy is worth buying.
The Evanston overview carries this FAQ with the city research.