No water was found in the footings trenches or the natural gas service trench. Thank you for your assistance. T., It does sound suspicious. Usually sewer trench will be deeper than the gas, but not necessarily the footings. If it was not deeper and the area is the same then there is no reason for this trench to attract water.
Trenches are a big problem because it is difficult to compact even under ideal conditions.
Improperly compacted trenches can cause the soil above to subside, concrete to fail, and cause cracking of flatwork. I am not really concerned about the water traveling backwards to the footings - unless I am missing something. A geotechnical engineer is the person who should be designing and supervising compaction work. You will find them on larger projects because it is difficult to justify the cost for a single house. However, it may be worthwhile to consult a local one at this time.