Have I got Soak a way ??

[housebasher]

How can you tell if your house has a soak a way system for surface water drainage ?
I was once told that all houses built after the mid 70`s had a soak a way system ? mine was built in 1989/90.
and the other evidance of a soak a way system was if the guttering down pipe goes straight in to the ground, ie it does not end just above a drain .
Is this all correct ?
All comments and replys appreciated.

 

[diyAlex]

I've got soakaways, but then I'm in a very old property with a septic tank.

I grew up in a 1982 built house on an estate, that definitely had mains drainage but the guttering went straight in to the ground and found the drains there.

My suggestion would be to have a look around for manhole covers - lift them up and see what direction the drains flow in. Then put a hosepipe in your guttering and see if any water starts flowing through any of the drains under the manhole covers.

And/or ask your neighbours. Or for that matter look at the HIP report (if you have one from the purchase) because these contain a load of bumpf from the water board about locations of municipal pipeworks