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What could be causing standing water on top of a new yard french drain?

I am working on a french drain solution in my backyard. I just finished covering the last section up yesterday and it started to rain today. Test 1!

Results: standing water on top of small sections of the drain lines.

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I got out and removed the dirt from some sections. Looks like the puddle issue is resolved in some places:

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This makes me believe the issue is mainly compact soul, due to working over the finished parts while finishing up the rest. Taking up the dirt for the picture above, it was indeed very compact.

But in other places it looks like the water continues to pool even after removing the dirt:

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Why else might I have standing water over top a new drain system?

The make-up is gravel and a 4-inch perforated pipe all surrounded by landscape fabric.

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  • What type of soil was used above the drain? If the soil above the drain doesn't allow water to move through it easily, the water will puddle until it slowly drains through the soil. – Tester101 Mar 28 '16 at 2:26
  • How much pitch did you install the drain with? How does the pipe terminate? – ench Mar 28 '16 at 17:13
  • @Tester101, the soil is the same stuff that was there before. Dirt with some sand mostly. It is very easy to dig. Nothing approaching a clay like consistency. – Evil Closet Monkey Mar 28 '16 at 17:15
  • How long does it take for the puddles to go away? – Tester101 Mar 28 '16 at 17:18
  • @ench, there is at least a 2-degree slop. The system does terminate in 2 places (3, if you could the dry well), but not where the 3rd picture was taken. There is a junction there, but no direct downspout going into that part of the system - it is all water from the sky. – Evil Closet Monkey Mar 28 '16 at 17:19

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