Soak away very slow

[PerranOak]

We have a soak away for the roof gutters that doesn't soak away very well. The slightest rain causes it to overflow. There is some soaking away but very little.

What are the remedies?

Thanks.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

What are the remedies?

Dig it out, clear it up, relay it, and possibly enlarge it.

 

[^woody^]

There's too many factors and possibilities, amount of discharge, size, location and age of soakaway, drain runs, ground make up and percolation. It's not worth guessing.

Get a site survey from a structural engineer.

Make sure your water company is not charging you for drainage if your not draining rainwater into their drains.

 

[noseall]

We have a soak away for the roof gutters that doesn't soak away very well. The slightest rain causes it to overflow. There is some soaking away but very little.

What are the remedies?

Thanks.

Older poorly constructed soakaways have a shelf life. We have dug up drains that were completely packed with dense debris from the down-pipe to the supposed soakaway.
In these cases we build a new one.

 

[PerranOak]

Thanks both. I thought it was bad news. Yes, I will check the water bill!

 

[foxhole]

Have you removed any leaf litter etc? What relevance is your water bill?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Have you removed any leaf litter etc? What relevance is your water bill?

Because if you don't use a public sewer for any surface or rainwater then you can get money off your water bill.

 

[noseall]

Have you removed any leaf litter etc? What relevance is your water bill?

On some billing formats, you pay a surcharge for them to handle stormwater in the absence of a soakaway.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Because if you don't use a public sewer for any surface or rainwater then you can get money off your water bill.

I think it was a matter of - if the water supply is metered, a leaking pipe would show up on the bill, and make the soak-away problem worse.