Property build in 1969 - Soakaway installation

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People,

If I try to 'trace' the horizontal pipe (using a rod pressed slowly into the ground) surely as I move away from the downpipe and along the horizontal pipe then eventually I will come to the end of the pipe and the soakaway location. I would appreciate thoughts on what would be at the end of the horizontal pipe (would there be a fitting etc) and also whether there are likely to be joints along the pipe and if so how often and what would they look like
 
Pipes (from memory) about 1.75m long and should be joined with plastic 'Collars'. Chances are the pipe just ends in the soakaway, the water would just run out and percolate down through the media to disperse into the soil.
 
Thanks Hugh and to everyone for their help. I am considering trying to identify the end of the pipework at the soakaway end and the digging down to see if the pipework is effective in passing the water from the downpipe to the soakaway. This will then form part of my decision on what to then do
 
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Save yourself some work, get it CCTV surveyed. That will tell you what condition the pipe is in, how far it goes, and if there are any problems. If the camera cant get through to the end, you'll know where to start digging.
 
I had considered that but I have two issues, One, due to the arrangement of the pipework it may be difficult for a survey due to some difficult to navigate pipework. Secondly, the earth at the moment in my area is easy to dig so it gives me something to do!
 
How about opening the pipe, seeing if it’s full of water/roots then pushing some rods down till it stops?
 
Thanks for the suggestion Ian. That was sort of my idea.

What I would say is that I cannot rod down the vertical downpipe or the 'gutter end' of the horizontal pipe. I may have to dig a hole where the horizontal pipe ends (at the soakaway end) and see what blockages are in the pipe (back to the 'gutter end'). I can also use this as an opportunity to let water flow down the 'gutter end' and see if it makes it to the 'soakaway end' thereby proving that the pipework works and has no blockage. I can therefore consider whether or not I simply need the existing soakaway renewed
 
Hi all,

Well today I went out into the garden with a spade and after some exploratory probing I dug down where I believed that the horizontal soakaway pipe ended.

About 24 inches down I found the horizontal pipe and some bricks / hardcore. After some digging around I have found the end of the pipe which had been partially blocked with a brick (presumably to prevent dirt ingress). I was careful to ensure that the end of the pipe was not the end of a pipe before a coupler (ie that two pipes werent poorly fitted and I had located the horizontal pipe 'mid length').

After locating the end of the horizontal pipe I managed to slide a hose pipe up the horizontal pipe towards the gutter downpipe and all seemed clear. I am therefore considering digging out the soakaway and installing a new one in place of the old one.
 
Might be better in a different location if the ground around it now is no longer soaking away.
 

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