can i do away with my soakaway?

[spanzeemack]

hi, we are looking into getting an extension on the side of the house. unfortunately it would mean digging out the soakaway (which is full...is that normal??) can i channel the water from the roof into a water butt or similar rather than having to dig a ruddy great hole in the garden?
what is the job of a soakaway and are they really that important?
also.....does anyone know what the regs are with regards to how far away your building has to be from your hedge? thanks

 

[noseall]

there has never been a more prolific time for soakaways, the council love 'em!

seriously, due to the increasing number of car owners, folks are paving all available space, ie. front lawns back lawns etc, in order to gain off road parking.

also, due to the numbers of garage conversions and the insistence by planning that parking for at least two parking spaces have to be provided due to the loss of the garage, folks are again paving their frontages.

this has lead to storm and in some cases sewer drains being overwhelmed.

if your ground is relatively free draining then building control will insist upon a soakaway if practical.

you can go as close as is practical to the hedge. it may mean deeper than standard foundations particularly if you have clay soil.

 

[Shytalkz]

...it may mean deeper than standard foundations particularly if you have clay soil.

For concerns regarding the hedge, it's only if.

 

[^woody^]

what is the job of a soakaway and are they really that important?

The name is a bit of a give-away - soak-away .... stuff (water) soaks away (into the ground)

There are no regs for building a certain distance from a hedge

The disposal of rainwater is given three priorities - into the ground, into a watercourse or into existing drains. Only if you cant do the preceding one, do you go to the next option on the list

 

[spanzeemack]

thanks very much for that!
if the water was channelled into a water butt, rather than the soak away i would be able to recycle it onto the veg patch and give it to the chickens...do you think the council would still rather a soakaway, where the water would simply soak away into the ground? thanks again all your info is really appreciated

 

[breezer]

.do you think the council would still rather a soakaway,

ask the council, get it right then

 

[^woody^]

In reality, you don't need any gutters or drains for rainwater, but the requirement is that it is disposed of sufficiently so as not to cause any problems to the building - ie locally soaked ground

So you can channel this water into a water-butt, but you will need to prove that the run off from the roof will be contained within the butt and that it wont be overflowing every day, say in winter. And if it does overflow, what happens to this?

Rainwater harvesting is all the rage nowadays

 

[roberta1000]

... but you will need to prove that the run off from the roof will be contained within the butt and that it wont be overflowing every day, say in winter.

and remember that 25mm of rain over a square metre is 25 litres so you might need a pretty big butt!

 

[roberta1000]

<oops - duplicated>

 

[wastetech]

Why don't you consider putting in a rainwater harvester as part of your development? This can save you 50% of your water bill as well as solving your soakaway problem. Flush your toilets, do your laundry, all with rainwater which will never present you with limescale problems and you use far less detergent as it is so soft.

 

[Nige F]

hi, we are looking into getting an extension on the side of the house. unfortunately it would mean digging out the soakaway (which is full...is that normal??) thanks

It used to be normal..and really just a place to tip the junk from the build. Now they have to be filled with hollow modules like large milk crates.

 

[denso13]

Why don't you consider putting in a rainwater harvester.....

I'd guess it's sorted by now