What do Soakaways look like?

They look like a series of perforated pipes laid in trenches in an area of land around your property, usually your garden or a field. The area around these pipes will then be covered over, usually with stones or gravel and turf, with the treated foul water being discharged into this land.

How do I know if I have a soakaway?

If you're wondering 'how can I tell if I have a soakaway? ', simply follow the rainwater pipes down from the side of your house into your garden. If they lead to a slightly lowered area where your lawn dips, there's a chance you have a soakaway installed.

How deep should a soakaway be?

How deep should a soakaway be? The Perforated pipe should be laid at a minimum depth of 200mm and a maximum depth of 700mm. This enables aerobic contact between the effluent and the drainage stone and soil particles. This leads to aerobic digestion and effectively treats the effluent.

Where does a soakaway go?

A soakaway is essentially a hole in the ground of your property's perimeter – usually in the back garden – that is filled with rubble. Soakaways are designed to drain away excess water caused by heavy rainfall if the drainage system of your home struggles to keep up with demand.

What does a soakaway consist of?

What is a soakaway? Soakaways are mainly created as a solution to standing surface water. They consist of a large hole or pit that receives surface water from a drainage pipe and helps the water to slowly percolate through the soil, reducing the risk of flooding and improving the stability of the ground.

How far must a soakaway be from a house?

How Far Should a Soakaway be From the House? You need to ensure its far enough from the structure to prevent damage — 5 metres is the accepted distance, but this also depends on the calculated size of the soakaway.

How long do Soakaways last?

How Long Do Soakaways Last? They should last the life of the house, at least 100 years but only if installed correctly and filters are used to prevent leaves and other material from clogging the soakaway.

Can a kitchen sink drain into a soakaway?

you can't just empty a sink to a soak away, a settlement tank is required, this can be emptied as required !

Do Soakaways need maintenance?

Anyone who has a soakaway on their premises knows that problems from damaged or blocked pipes can cause major issues in a short space of time. Regular maintenance is key to ensuring that your system continues to work smoothly and to help spot anything that may have an impact in the future.

What goes on top of a soakaway?

Always cover the soakaway crates with a geotextile membrane to maintain the performance of the system. A layer of sharp sand or pea gravel should be put into place before the crates are lowered in, then the geotextile membrane should be fitted inside the hole, ready for the soakaway crates to sit on top of.

What are soakaway crates?

Soakaway crates, also known as attenuation crates, can be used for attenuation or soakaway purposes in commercial and domestic projects. Installing a soakaway crate system can help to control the level of surface water, especially in areas prone to flooding or heavy rains.

Can a soakaway get blocked?

Can a soakaway get blocked? The main problem people experience with soakaways is that they can become blocked up with silt, leaves etc which have washed into the soakaway and can prevent the rain water being collected and percolated back into the soil.

Do Soakaways need building regulations?

Building Regulations require you to adequately dispose of stormwater from the building. To try and ensure water is dispersed into the ground evenly and quickly you must consider the use of a soakaway in all cases. You must use a soakaway if design criteria can be met.

Is my house connected to foul water drainage?

The best way to find out if your house has surface water drainage is to check the Title Deeds of your property or to check your property's original Planning Application. All of this information will be held by your local authority, so you should contact them if you don't have a copy of your own.

How effective are Soakaways?

As can be seen, rainwater soakaways are not only beneficial for the home environment, but are also cost effective while being a good way to prevent ecological damage. In many ways they are the perfect amalgamation of proficiency and ease-of-use and it is this that makes it one of the smartest home investments.

How big should a soakaway be?

What Size Should My Soakaway Be? The most common size of soakaway for residential use is 1 Cubic Metre (1m³), as this is what most Local Authorities seem to specify. As a broad brush a Soakaway Size of 1m³ is sufficient to drain a roof area of approximately 50 square metres under normal conditions.

How do I stop my soakaway silting?

The most common method to clear out a soakaway blockage is by inserting high-pressure water jets into the plastic crate itself. The water pressure forces accumulated silt and leaves out of the crate's small channels, thereby leaving the soakaway clear to do its job as normal.

Can a soakaway cause damp?

I tend to find that a blocked soakaway can cause excess moisture to occur within a sub floor void, and can be the cause of woodworm, and even fungal timber decay like wet rot or even dry rot. I've seen many blocked soakaways cause rising damp issues, and even flooding of the cavity within the wall.

Why do Soakaways fail?

Soakaways for Sewerage Treatment plants are not designed to deal with waste. The biggest cause by far is an initial poor Installation. The common signs of a poor installation are no filters installed or the Soakaway being too deep. If the Soakaway is too deep then Aerobic digestion and processing will be impossible.

Can you connect a washing machine to a soakaway?

Washing machine waste water cannot be routed to a soakaway.

Can shower water go into a soakaway?

Shower water is classed as foul water so no a soakaway would not be allowed. Plus the soakaway would have to be a good size for the amount of water being used. Soakaways are normally used for rain water or boiler condensate, which is not much water so will easily disperse.

Can I discharge GREY water into a soakaway?

Grey water must not go directly down a soakaway, as it will often have a fairly high biological oxygen demand (BOD), especially if it contains detergent or soap residue. It's normal for grey water to be treated by the treatment plant.

Are Soakaways covered by insurance?

Soakaways aren't usually covered by policies because they're not pipes, drains or tanks but they can become blocked over time. This is because they're often no more than a hole in the ground filled with granular materials which help the water trickle downwards into the ground.

How do you install a soakaway?

How to install Soakaway Crates

1. Step 1 – Create space.
2. Step 2 – Prepare the crates.
3. Step 3 – Prepare the base.
4. Step 4 – Hook up to the drainage system.
5. Step 5 – Cover the crates.
6. Step 6 – Replace any ground that was removed.

What is a downpipe soakaway?

Soakaways are holes in the ground; the hole is filled with pebbles, pea shingles or even rubble. The modern version of the original Soakaway is the Soakaway crate. Rainwater Soakaway blockages can be avoided by using the Gutter Mate Diverter and Filter.