Soakaway advice please

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9 Oct 2006
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Norwich
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Hi,

One of my underground clay rainwater pipes is blocked (I found the bend where the downpipe connects was broken which lead me to find the blockage). It appears to be blocked mainly with that peaty type stuff that accumulates in the gutters and as far as I can tell it is blocked for some distance.

There is now a small hole next to the foundation where the soil has washed away :eek:

The rainwater should go to a soakaway somewhere. My house is 50+ years old, so chances are the soakaway is also blocked. Is it worth locating the soakaway and re-doing it, plus cleaning out and repairing the clay pipe, or should I run another new plastic pipe and dig a new one? Space is not an issue as have large garden, plus am in the process of redoing the back garden anyway.

Not dared to look at the other downpipe yet :oops:

Advice/thoughts please!

Thanks
 
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we would normally hire a micro or mini digger and dig a new one in this instance.

i do not endorse the use of rainwater downpipes without a trapped gulley at the bottom, as this can lead to the silting-up of the drain. using just a 90 degree bend is asking for trouble.

so, you need to get digging.

what type of subsoil do you have, i.e. 5-6 feet below ground?
 
Not sure what subsoil type is. Occasionally dug up the odd bit of clay like soil, but don't know if it is all like this.

How big does the soakaway need to be? Is there a way to calculate this?

I have a friend who works on sewers so might have a friendly word/offer of beers!
 
we tend to dig them rather large. 1.2m x 1.2m x full micro digger depth - which is about 2m deep (minimum). :eek:

we then use the hole to take the extension knock through material. ;)
 
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Thanks for the advice. I've finally managed to get round to start digging the soakaway.

I'm about 5' down so far - 12" topsoil, 2.5' of pure clay :eek: and about 1.5' through a layer of clay and lumps of chalk. Appears to be some sand showing as well now (though could be sandy coloured clay, but it's not sticky :confused: ).

Heavy rain has caused the hole to be too wet to continue at the moment, but hoping the increasing amount of chalk (and sand hopefully) means the drainage should work if I go deep enough. The original soakaway must have worked at some point (50+ years old), plus as a keen gardener, I am intending to have at least 3 water butts on this down pipe so that should take a decent amount of water as well if there's a heavy downpour.

I also have an old water tank that I'm intending to use upside down in the soakaway to create a void to hold more water.
 

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