Rain Water Drainage problem - no obviouse solution

YanAnderson · 1 Sep 2009

I've been threating about what to do with my rain water collected from the gutter for a while now, and im nearly at the stage to start building the gutters.

The problem is I've no where to run it off to.

The property connects to a sceptic tank and im not allowed to drain off into that and the property (mid terrace and this is the back of the house beind discussed) backs onto a piece of council owned land which actually raises 1.5 meters above the path next to the backdoor.

The building inspector has told me my only solution is to dig a 2.5 meter hole as a soak away in this council owned land and run a pipe into that! I can't imagine how I would go about getting the councils permission for this or even how much work it would take to pull that digging (through layers of rock and clay).

Does anyone have any solutions? or is there and way to apply for an excemption to building regs when the regulations are simply not possible to achieve?

Thanks in advance!
Yan

freddiemercurystwin · 1 Sep 2009

Is this for an existing roof or a new extension roof? If building control suggested using council land (which sounds very odd to me too BTW) I would ask him how you go about applying to the council to do such a thing. If that direction is exhausted and he also won't let you build a soakaway in your own property (presumably because your rear garden/yard is too small etc) then you will have no choice but to connect into the mains. Where do your neighbours roofs drain to? The regs are for guidance and building control can relinquish many of the required standards if it can be proved to be unreasonable to achieve them. The point is that you need to prove by argument (not literally) or on paper that you've exhausted the alternatives and they're unachievable. He sounds like a crackpot tbh!

But maybe Fred Bloggs 8 doors down the road or wherever did this so have a word with the inspector first. The argument that 'its a lot of work' is unlikely to stand up.

YanAnderson · 1 Sep 2009

it's an extension with a new roof.

Ye, behind the house before the council owned land is just a path of about 1 meter which I own. The neighbours im pretty sure all run into the sceptic tank. or just onto the concrete path. Their rear extensions where all built circa 1960 and the original part of the houses was 1846.

freddiemercurystwin · 1 Sep 2009

In essence, you need to prove to him why building a soakaway on council land is impractical. The neighbours rainwater surely can't drain into their sepctic tanks, they'd be overflowing in no time. Do they just spill onto the ground?

Nige F · 1 Sep 2009

freddymercurystwin said:
. Do they just spill onto the ground?

Onan did that, he was a M8 of Legion. In the Bible

Methinks the building officer is an Onanist

freddiemercurystwin · 1 Sep 2009

Thats harsh, but probably true!

YanAnderson · 1 Sep 2009

think if we got to the bending rules stage they would let me build a soak away next to the house with some DPM to encourage the water to soak away from the foundations?

freddiemercurystwin · 1 Sep 2009

Doubt it, how big is the garden? Digging a big hole for a soakaway close to the new extension may leave the foundations succeptable to movement. Its what happens(?) in 15 years time or whenever when the soakaway hasn't been maintained properly and is potentially just hollow or earth around it/below it has been washed away etc thats the problem.

YanAnderson · 1 Sep 2009

well the property i own behind the house is litrally the depth of that path. With that and the sceptic tank as the only alternatives would a bit of onanism likely be the best solution?

perhaps I could put a bit of a slope in the path as well to encourage the water to flow away from the house.

freddiemercurystwin · 1 Sep 2009

YanAnderson said:
perhaps I could put a bit of a slope in the path as well to encourage the water to flow away from the house.

If thats how your neighbours roofs drain then that could be your justification, he can only say no and give you reasons why not in which case comeback and tell us what he said otherwise

freddymercurystwin said:
I would ask him how you go about applying to the council to do such a thing.

freddymercurystwin said:
maybe Fred Bloggs 8 doors down the road or wherever did this so have a word with the inspector first.

freddymercurystwin said:
In essence, you need to prove to him why building a soakaway on council land is impractical.

When you've spoken to him come back to us.

YanAnderson · 1 Sep 2009

ok thanks.

I'm just so worried that im going to end up in a stale mate and end up never actually getting signed off. I'll make a few quick changes elsewhere he requested and get him round to discuss it

.

YanAnderson · 1 Sep 2009

I've just been to the house to double check and it turns out that 4 of my terrace neighbours actually all run off into 1 downpipe that I confirmed does go into a soak away i never knew about.

Question now is... will adding a 5th property to this 1 downpipe overload it!
Does anyone know if theres information on the maximum load for these kind of things?

freddiemercurystwin · 1 Sep 2009

Blimey, thats a poser indeed, one imagines that building control would like to know what size it is and without knowing that (even if there was an ancient drawing stating what size it should have been it may not have been built as per the drawing) its hard to know what BC will say. I have no idea how you can test a soakaway's capacity once its been covered over other than emptying it and then doing a test if such a test is even possible. Normally before a soakaway is designed a percolation test is carried out to measure the porosity of the ground but how such a test can be applied to a soakaway thats insitu I don't know. Presumably this existing soakaway is on council land which would point to you installing another soakaway also on council land. Talk to BC next.

Nige F · 2 Sep 2009

Well, it`s a nightmare

The only thing is to spill on the ground...and PRAY

But at least Build. Control wont kill you

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Rain Water Drainage problem - no obviouse solution

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