Soakaway problems

FlyTVR

FlyTVR

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Anyone know anything about soakaways?

Ours keeps filling up. Never been a problem for the last 6 years, but since Xmas it fills up very quickly. Any ideas what could be wrong?

How much roughly to fit a new soakaway?

Cheers.

Dav
 
The soakaway's sides could be blocked by fine silt. Soakaways rely on the surrounding ground to be porous enough to allow the water to... soak away. Given the amount of rain, it's also possible that the local water table has risen so far that the water has nowhere to go, in which case even a new soakaway won't cure the problem.
Impossible to give much of a clue as to cost of a new one - depends on size needed, hardness of the ground and the local builders' hourly rates.
 
Cheers fella.

Just before Xmas, a mains water pipe broke. Sufficient to flood the local fields. I'm just wondering if that would have temporarily driven the water table up and that could have silted the soakaway. Does that sound feasable?

Cheers.

Dav
 
FlyTVR said:
Cheers fella.

Just before Xmas, a mains water pipe broke. Sufficient to flood the local fields. I'm just wondering if that would have temporarily driven the water table up and that could have silted the soakaway. Does that sound feasable?

Cheers.

Dav
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A soakaway is a hole in the ground filled with porous media (say 20mm nominal stone). The size of the soakaway maybe estimated knowing ground conditions.
However the water main burst will have had an effect so I would leave until we have had some sunny weather.
 
No problem Dav. You could dig a small test pit to find the water table level - you can hire post hole diggers from many plant hire places to get small, deep holes. Try to avoid smearing the sides of the hole when digging it (if you go that route) - that can slow the egress of water (same goes for any new soak away you might dig).
 
You need to do a percolation test, it's a simple test
 
Steve Smith said:
You could divert your surface water drains to your normal drain.


Steve.
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That's fine IF you're on mains drains but you'll need to tell the local water company and they'll add an extra charge...
 
Nod said:
That's fine IF you're on mains drains but you'll need to tell the local water company and they'll add an extra charge...
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It's crazy. They charge you for water then charge you when you give it back!!


Steve.
 
Well (!) it does fall from the sky not needing a lot doing to it when the supply it but when it's returned to them, they need to do quite a lot before they can put it back into circulation!
 
Nod said:
they need to do quite a lot before they can put it back into circulation!
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They do.

I have a friend who works for our water company. When I first knew him, he told me he shovelled sh** for a living. I just thought he meant that he had a generic rubbish job. In actual fact, his description was very accurate!


Steve.
 
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