What is a 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.
How deep should a garden 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.
How do I make a garden soakaway?
To construct a basic stand alone soak away or one to use as a dispersal point for a French drain system where the water will gradually seep away into the surrounding soil. Dig a large hole in the ground, line the sides with heavy-duty landscaping fabric, to keep the earth from over time clogging up the gravel.
Does a garden room need a soakaway?
Commonly guttering on garden rooms is channeled into water-butts or to a ground soakaway. Whilst many garden room suppliers offer guttering as standard not many actually connect this to a water-butt or soakaway so this can be an extra cost.
What is a garden soakaway? – Related Questions
What is the difference between a drain and a 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).
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.
What are the regulations for a garden room?
Garden Rooms must be single storey with a maximum eaves height of 2.5 metres and maximum overall height of 4 metres with a dual pitched roof, or 3 metres in any other case. If the Garden Room is within 2 metres of the property boundary the whole building needs to be less than 2.5 metres high.
When should a soakaway be installed?
Soakaway crates are best used in areas where the ground is covered by impermeable materials, such as tarmac, paving blocks and concrete (i.e. roads, car parks and roofed areas). As such, they are a legal requirement for construction projects.
Do you need a soakaway for a treatment plant?
A soakaway is not usually needed with a sewage treatment plant, but it is required with a septic tank. This is because the water released by a septic tank is primary treated effluent, meaning it has only gone through one stage of treatment.
Do all properties have a soakaway?
Legally, sewage treatment plants do need soakaways. They are one of the few legal remaining methods for disposing of treated wastewater from a septic tank, as by the new official Binding Rules, water is not allowed to be released into a watercourse or ditch.
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 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.
Does my rainwater go into a soakaway?
In most cases, the rain that falls on your roof, driveway and other parts of your property will drain away into one of our public sewers. But there are some properties where all the surface water flows away through a soakaway or into a stream.
How do you empty a soakaway?
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.
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.
Is a French drain the same as a soakaway?
Soakaways and French drains are both efficient drainage systems, but they are distinct solutions that perform different jobs. Soakaways are primarily used as a solution to excess surface water. They are a means of returning standing water to the land, helping it to percolate into the soil.
How big does a soakaway have to 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 deep should a soak pit be?
The soak pit , consisting basically of a simple pit (generally approximately 1 m3), should be between 1.5 and 4 m deep, but as a rule of thumb, never less than 2 m above the groundwater table. It should be located at a safe distance from a drinking water source (ideally more than 30 m).
Can you build a soakaway in clay soil?
It should be noted that soakaways rarely work on heavy clay soils. If you are hoping to create a soakaway to alleviate waterlogging in a garden, you may well be disappointed by what follows.
Does a soakaway 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.