soakaway

[willingwilly]

Hi I have been told I can make a simple soakaway for my drive by using a large plastic woven bag (the kind sand comes in) put in a hole and fill with broken slabs to allow the piped water to flow in freely. Would it be preferable to use shingle. Would the bag allow water to seep out sufficiently?

 

[studips]

the volume for a soakaway can be worked out as metres squared of paving * 0.017, so that's the free volume you want. a large gravel would work better than slabs (whatever leaves the biggest voids), ideally you would buy aquacell soak away crates at about £40 per 200litres capacity and terram to wrap the crates in, surrounded by pea. it's not a cheap option but it is the right way.

that's if you are doing it right, and if you are doing it the way building control would expect you to.

 

[willingwilly]

What about the bag idea which seems a cheap way for the job. But I don't know if the material is water permeable. I have been told the top of the bag should be eighteen inches below the soil surface

 

[studips]

the bag is permeable, they are less than 1 mcu in volume, and a lot less than that once you've filled it with gravel or rubble.

it's better than nothing i suppose, at least you might be able to have a bulk bag or gravel craned straight into the hole.

just don't be surprised if the water regularly backs up when it rains, it's also dependant on your soil type at depth (sand, clay, gravel, silt all drain at different rates)