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The drainage ditch has been turned into a culvert (4-5m pipe) on the plot we want to buy. Water enters in front of the property and falls out on the other side of the property. As the future owner of this plot (if we decide), the law in my country makes me responsible for taking care of the patency of the pipe.

How much work is that and how is this usually done?

[culvert1

dzieciou
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    That was a dubious place to put a fence post. – Ecnerwal Feb 01 '23 at 20:10
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    @Ecnerwal Yes, we will use that argument to negotiate the price of the property. – dzieciou Feb 01 '23 at 20:14
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    Forgive my ignorance, but what is "the patency of the pipe"? – FreeMan Feb 01 '23 at 22:32
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    "the condition of being open, expanded or unobstructed" (yeah, I looked it up before answering. Not in common usage in my area, but a perfectly valid or even apt word.) – Ecnerwal Feb 01 '23 at 22:46
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    Are the entrance & exit of the pipe on your land (or public land)? If not you'll need your neighbor(s) cooperation in order to maintain it. – brhans Feb 01 '23 at 23:57
  • @FreeMan Apologies, English not is not my mother tongue and I use English in a completely different domain on a daily basis, so I used Google Translate here. What would be a better word here? – dzieciou Feb 02 '23 at 05:08
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    No worries at all, @dzieciou - your English is far better than my not-English (I'm pretty monolingual), so kudos to you! I would just leave that word out entirely. In US English, "taking care of the pipe" would be more than sufficient. That would indicate maintenance of a clear water-way through it, and repairs to the pipe itself should it ever start breaking down. – FreeMan Feb 02 '23 at 13:06

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If the pipe is made of suitable materials, and correctly sloped to drain, it's normally just a matter of keeping the entrance clear of trash that can block it, and not choosing it as a location to plant trees on top of that could block it with their roots. It appears to be concrete or heavy clay pipe that should last for hundreds of years.

If it's poorly sloped you might need to run something through it once or twice a year to prevent build-up of material in the pipe. Proper slope will carry material through the pipe.

Ecnerwal
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