connecting rain water to sewer.

rssteve · 24 Mar 2008

im shortly doing my extension and planning ahead. house rain water currently uses a soakaway which is about 3m from wall. Not sure the soakaway works too well either as its very clay soil. I only have foul sewers.

How do i go about seeing if i am aloud to connect rainwater to main sewer? do i get permission off of someone? i could build a new soakaway but for it to be 5m away from foundations it will be across my garden a good 20m away.

noseall · 24 Mar 2008

there are ever increasing demands for homeowners to drain all surface rainwater on their own properties.

local authorities are even making a front driveway a planning application order, so that they can 'monitor' surface water drainage.

clay soils should be made an exception though. have a look at your water utilities bill and see if you pay a storm water handling charge.

Richard C · 24 Mar 2008

rssteve said:
im shortly doing my extension and planning ahead. house rain water currently uses a soakaway which is about 3m from wall. Not sure the soakaway works too well either as its very clay soil. I only have foul sewers.

How do i go about seeing if i am aloud to connect rainwater to main sewer? do i get permission off of someone? i could build a new soakaway but for it to be 5m away from foundations it will be across my garden a good 20m away.

If the local water authority are reluctant to let you connect, you have the opportunity go for a water harvester! More outlay for sure but if you have any sort of family living at home & are on a water meter, the way utility bills are going it could be a wise move!

If you already use soak away drainage & are paying the storm water handling charge noseall refers to, make sure you claim the discount that’s available; they don’t go out of their way to make you aware that you can!

^woody^ · 24 Mar 2008

I'd say stuff the money grabbing water authorities, stuff the "must save resources and have a reduced quality of life" lobby , and discretely bung all the water down the drains.

And think of the good it will do by flushing them and keeping them clean

Shytalkz · 24 Mar 2008

That is such irresponsible advice, Woody.

^woody^ · 24 Mar 2008

It was opinion not advice. lol

Obviously, anyone carrying out such a non-environmentally friendly practice should be tracked down by Matthew Hopkins and made to confess before being sent to the ducking chair.

Shytalkz · 24 Mar 2008

^woody^ said:
Obviously, anyone carrying out such a non-environmentally friendly practice should be tracked down by Matthew Hopkins and made to confess before being sent to the ducking chair.

I thought he preferred tying their thumbs to their toes and then lowering them in on ropes. Kinda like New Labour anyhow: taxed to death if you do, taxed to death if you don't

GaryinAshby · 28 Mar 2008

I had the same problem. My house (built in 1973) discharges ALL rainwater to the foul sewer. The single garage that was on the side of the house also did this. I have removed the garage & constructed a single storey extension but I am being forced to use a soakaway. My problem is that the ground is solid clay & I'm convinced that a soakaway simply won't soak! The BCO has suggested planting conifers in the area of the soakaway to help remove water. I HATE conifers!!!!!!!!!!

WabbitPoo · 28 Mar 2008

Then your BCO is a tw*t

Shytalkz · 28 Mar 2008

Such good advice from a BCO. Not.

Plant a tree within 5m of a 1973 property on clay and you might well use the water from the soakaway but end up cracking the building, once the tree grows substantially and shrinks the founding soils.

What a prat - him not you, I mean.

GaryinAshby · 28 Mar 2008

The soakaway would be 5m from the house, but when the house rainwater & the old garage rainwater went into the foul drain it seems ridiculous that I can't do the same with the extension!

What do you all suggest I do? The BCO is a lovelly girl but she's straight out of college & is very good at reciting text but not so good at understanding reality............

Shytalkz · 28 Mar 2008

GaryinAshby said:
The BCO is a lovelly girl but she's straight out of college & is very good at reciting text but not so good at understanding reality............

Well now, there's a surprise.

I would argue the case for putting the rw into the combined sewer. You clearly can't use a soakaway as it's clay, you certainly can't use plants as a sponge and, in the scheme of things, it's not putting that much extra in the system.

If she won't budge, either go over her head to someone with more sense/experience, or put a soakaway in, wait till you've got your completion certificate and then quietly divert it into the drain.

Alternatively, form a "living soakway": a shallow depression, with bullrushes, pebbles and other plants, into which the pipe discharges.

Then again, if she's that good looking, keep phoning her with queries and get her to come over, so you can lust after her; make it obvious, keep leering and eventually she'll give up and sign it off with whatever way you want to do it. Or end up in bed with you. Win-win...

^woody^ · 28 Mar 2008

The drain connection should follow an order of preference. The most prefered is discharge into the ground or water harvesting system, next is into an existing watercourse, final (least preferred) is connection to drains.

There are no regulations preventing any connection, and if one solution is technically or finacially not possible, then the next option is permitted

dustmaker · 28 Mar 2008

building regulations state that a new soak a way has to be at least 5.5m away from the house, and at 1 square cubic meter per 15 square meters of roof area the water falls from. you are now not allowed to run storm water in to fowel drains.
You can get advice on the design for the soak a way from the water authority. For heavy clay its best to have a deep rectangular soak a way filled with clean crushed hard core.( broken clean bricks only). Its not how deep or how big it is. Its how its designed that matters.

noseall · 28 Mar 2008

dustmaker said:
building regulations state that a new soak a way has to be at least 5.5m away from the house, and at 1 square cubic meter per 15 square meters of roof area the water falls from. you are now not allowed to run storm water in to fowel drains.
You can get advice on the design for the soak a way from the water authority. For heavy clay its best to have a deep rectangular soak a way filled with clean crushed hard core.( broken clean bricks only). Its not how deep or how big it is. Its how its designed that matters.

oh, right.

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connecting rain water to sewer.

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