Serving Brownsville
Groundwater & Basement Water Intrusion in Brownsville, TX
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
What exactly is a resaca?
An abandoned channel of the river, left behind as the Rio Grande shifted across its delta over time. They are now managed water bodies threading through the city, held at set levels for supply and amenity. For drainage purposes they are both a receiving water and, when they are already full, an obstacle.
Twenty-nine inches a year is fairly dry.
As an average it is, and the average has very little to do with the risk here. This coast takes direct hits from tropical systems that have delivered more than the annual figure within about two days. Drainage is tested by those events, and nothing sized for twenty-nine inches a year passes them.
The ground here is heavy clay.
Deep delta clay, which takes water very slowly at the best of times and effectively stops once the top layer is saturated. Combined with almost no gradient, that means rainfall stays on the surface rather than soaking in or running off. Standing water for days after a storm is the normal behavior of this ground rather than a drainage failure.
These questions come from the Brownsville page.