Serving Salt Lake City
Groundwater & Basement Water Intrusion in Salt Lake City, UT
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 east side and the west side are different problems entirely.
They are. Up on the benches the ground is old lake gravel that drains freely until it meets something it cannot pass, and the trouble is water moving sideways. Out on the valley floor it is fine lake sediment with the water sitting close beneath. Advice for one is close to useless a few miles away in the other.
There is a creek under this street somewhere.
Several of the canyon streams were put into channels beneath the city as it grew, and the limitation with any of them is that nobody can see inside. A buried channel has exactly the capacity it was given, less whatever has collected since. Whatever records the city holds are worth asking for, and the practical question is where water goes when it is full.
The creek runs hardest in June with no rain at all.
Melt follows temperature rather than weather, so the peak comes with the first sustained warm spell high in the canyons and has nothing to do with what falls on the city. A hot week in late May does more than any storm here. Watching the forecast temperature at elevation gives more warning than watching for rain.
The Salt Lake City overview carries this FAQ with the city research.