Materials needed to construct a soakaway
Constructing a basic soak away is fairly simple you dig a hole in the ground and fill the hole with gravel available from most builders merchants. (The 20m flint gravel from amazon is Ideal).
Can I use gravel for 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 stone is used for soakaway?
Our Soakaway Gravel Stone 30 – 80mm is perfect for filling a soakaway for land and garden drainage. In addition to preventing waterlogging and sustaining the life of your garden, a soakaway will stop damp from seeping into the property from outside. Our Jumbo Bulk Bags are 1000kgs.
What do you fill a soakaway with?
What Is a Soakaway? Simply put, when you dig a hole in the ground which is then filled with rubble and coarse stone; you have created a soakaway drainage field. These stones allow surface water to percolate back into the earth close to where it falls.
What gravel is best for a soakaway? – Related Questions
How much gravel do I need for a soakaway?
The most common size of soakaway for residential use is 1 Cubic Metre (1m³), as this is what most Local Authorities seem to specify.
How deep should you dig a soakaway?
The depth depends upon the location – if it’s under the garden or patio etc. it only needs to be 1310mm deep, but if its under your driveway it should be 1510mm deep to allow for a little more top fill. If you don’t want to dig that deep, check out our shallow dig soakaway options.
Can I fill a soakaway with rubble?
A rubble soakaway is quite simply a hole dug into the ground and – as the name suggests – filled with rubble and stone. This allows a gradual filtration of the surface water, back into the earth.
Do Soakaways need emptying?
How long does a soakaway last? Septic tanks need regular maintenance to keep them running efficiently. Maintenance includes emptying a septic tank of the sludge that builds up so the wastewater disposal system, including the soakaway, can still function. Septic tanks need to be emptied and serviced every 12 months.
Can you have a soakaway without a septic tank?
A soakaway is not usually needed with a sewage treatment plant, but it is required with a septic tank.
Does rainwater have to go to a soakaway?
Soakaway Regulations relating to foul drainage state that a soakaway is no longer an acceptable method of discharge. Instead, a Drainage Field must be used. For Rainwater, a soakaway is still acceptable. Please see the next section for the difference between a Soakaway and a Drainage Field.
How many years does a soakaway last?
Soakaways should last the life of the house, at least 100 years but only if installed and maintained correctly.
Is a soakaway legal?
A soakaway must always be the first choice but must not be used: Within 5m of a building or road, 2.5m of a boundary or in an area of unstable land in ground where the water table reaches the bottom of the soakaway at any time of the year.
Is there an alternative to a soakaway?
If a soakaway is impossible to achieve, you may be able to discharge the water into a local watercourse if you live next to one. If that isn’t possible, you can discharge the rainwater into a sewer, although you will need to get permission from the water company first and they will charge you a yearly fee.
What is a natural soakaway?
A soakaway is a buried drainage feature which seeks to manage surface water on the site and infiltrate into the ground, rather than discharging to an offsite location such as a watercourse or sewer.
What is the difference between drainage and soakaway?
What is the difference between a drainage field and a soakaway? To summarise the difference between the two, a drainage field is designed to add additional treatment to the water. Whereas a soakaway is designed to store a large volume of water allowing time for it to release into the ground (i. e. in a heavy downpour).
Can a soakaway collapse?
Possibly the most detrimental of the 3, the pipes that feed the soakaway system could collapse due to external pressure or poor installation. If the pipes collapse the soakaway will leak out rapidly from this if they become disconnected. If this is the case the entire system will need to be replaced.
Why do Soakaways fail?
Soakaway problems are caused when the amount of liquid entering the soakaway is greater than that being released. This causes the ground to become boggy or saturated. If all of the wastewater entering the soakaway cannot escape the system will also start to back up through the pipework.
What should a soakaway 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 you maintain a soakaway?
They catch any mud, silt or dirt particles that are washed into the drain from the gutters, channel drains or land drains that feed into the soakaway. Maintenance is a just a case of removing the lid every three months or so and lifting out and emptying the silt bucket, then replacing it.
What are the types of soakaway?
There are two main types of Soakaways we deal with, Rainwater and Drainage. A rainwater crate Soakaway effectively takes the rainwater collected via your guttering system. The Soakaway then dissipates the water into the groundwater over a sufficiently large area to avoid any standing water issues.