What is subsurface drainage?
Subsurface drainage can be simply described as buried pipelines that intercept water below the ground’s surface and direct it to a surface outlet. Subsurface drainage is often referred to as “tile” drainage because up to the 1970’s clay or concrete tiles were used to construct the subsurface pipeline. The joints between the tiles allowed water to flow into the pipeline. Since the 1970’s, most tile drainage uses corrugated plastic pipe that is perforated. Many homes with basements have plastic tile lines installed around the footings to control basement water seepage. In agriculture, tile drainage is used to control water table elevations in production fields. Many agricultural fields have areas where the water table rises to close to the surface before, during or after the growing season. Tile lines are typically buried 3 to 4 feet below the surface of the field to allow for normal tillage operation and promote full root development of the crop. The tile lines in the field are typicall
