Is it normal for a house built in the mid 70's to have the roof rainwater
drain-off ending in a soak-away?
I'm building a largish patio and because of the area am including a driveway
drain at the lowest side. I was planning on splicing into the rainwater
drain but when I dug down to find the drain pipe I found that it ended in a
soakaway. It's made things much simpler for me because now I can just feed
the drain from the patio down into the soakaway as well rather than having
to break into a run of drain pipe. I'm just surprised, however, to find a
house rainwater drain ending in a soakaway!

Kev

"Uno Hoo!" wrote in message
...
Is it normal for a house built in the mid 70's to have the roof rainwater
drain-off ending in a soak-away?
I'm building a largish patio and because of the area am including a
driveway drain at the lowest side. I was planning on splicing into the
rainwater drain but when I dug down to find the drain pipe I found that it
ended in a soakaway. It's made things much simpler for me because now I
can just feed the drain from the patio down into the soakaway as well
rather than having to break into a run of drain pipe. I'm just surprised,
however, to find a house rainwater drain ending in a soakaway!

Why don't you divert the roof water into a butt and use it on the garden? We
do, it's marvellous! Spouse is trying to work out how to do something
similar for the caravans :-)

Mary

Kev

Uno Hoo! wrote:

Is it normal for a house built in the mid 70's to have the roof rainwater
drain-off ending in a soak-away?

Yes, very common. If you read the drainage sections of the building regs
then that is one of the prefered ways of dealing with rain water.




--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"Geoffrey" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 17:22:54 +0100, Geoffrey
wrote:

On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 17:14:36 +0100, "Uno Hoo!"
wrote:

Is it normal for a house built in the mid 70's to have the roof rainwater
drain-off ending in a soak-away?
I'm building a largish patio and because of the area am including a
driveway
drain at the lowest side. I was planning on splicing into the rainwater
drain but when I dug down to find the drain pipe I found that it ended in
a
soakaway. It's made things much simpler for me because now I can just
feed
the drain from the patio down into the soakaway as well rather than
having
to break into a run of drain pipe. I'm just surprised, however, to find
a
house rainwater drain ending in a soakaway!

Kev


Where else would it go?

I didn't quite mean that - what I meant was, what else are soakaways
for?

Well, I know what they are for - I just assumed that they were a last resort
when 'grey-water' sewers were not available. There are both foul-water
sewers and grey water sewers around my house and so I expected the rain
water to go into a proper sewer and not into a soak-away which seems rather
crude! Incidentally I found the end of the drain pipe was almost completely
clogged with dirt, debris, and a mesh of fine roots. All this had just
piled up against the rocks in the soakaway.

Kev

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
Uno Hoo! wrote:

Is it normal for a house built in the mid 70's to have the roof rainwater
drain-off ending in a soak-away?

Yes, very common. If you read the drainage sections of the building regs
then that is one of the prefered ways of dealing with rain water.

Ok - thanks for that. You learn something new every day! I had always
assumed that soak-aways were a final resort where grey-water sewers were not
available. Incidentally, is draining the run-off from a 30 square meter
patio into the soak-away likely to 'overload' it? In other words, is the
size of the soakaway determined at 'build' by the area to be drained (eg,
one side of a house roof) ?

Kev

The building regs prefer soakaways as a way of dealing with rainfall
because they allow it to be soaked into the ground over a long(er)
period thus helping to prevent some of the disasterous flooding we've
seen in the last year. They also avoid sewage plants becomming
overloaded during periods of peak rainfall, the outcome of which is,
er, unpleasant.

The calculation of the size is non-trivial because a lot of the data
you need is not readily available. In particular you need to know the
likely sustained rainfall rate in your area as well as the permeability
of the ground. Your local BCO might be able and willing to help if you
ask.
30m2 is quite large, consider 1cm of rain falling reasonably quickly,
that's 0.3m3 of water. If you are on sand then no worries but if you
are on clay then you probably have to allow for storing all of that in
the short term. As most normal domestic soakaways I've seen are about
1m2 that's a third of the volume without any other considerations.

In practice of course everyone just digs a big hole and fills it with
rubble but you could look at some of the comercially available
high-tech solutions based around a plastic latticework and a permeable
membrane - sort of like upturned milk crates - basically anything which
provides some temporary storage so that the water can soak in over
time.

If you have a 70's house you may find the soakaway is rather too close
for present day standards. Ours was about 2 metres away until we built
our extension, now it's the minimum permitted 5m.

HTH
Calvin

On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 17:44:34 +0100, "Uno Hoo!"
wrote:


"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
Uno Hoo! wrote:

Is it normal for a house built in the mid 70's to have the roof rainwater
drain-off ending in a soak-away?

Yes, very common. If you read the drainage sections of the building regs
then that is one of the prefered ways of dealing with rain water.

Ok - thanks for that. You learn something new every day! I had always
assumed that soak-aways were a final resort where grey-water sewers were not
available. Incidentally, is draining the run-off from a 30 square meter
patio into the soak-away likely to 'overload' it? In other words, is the
size of the soakaway determined at 'build' by the area to be drained (eg,
one side of a house roof) ?

Kev


In our area ( Southern Water ) they automatically charge £19 for the
disposal of surface water. However if you can establish your house
uses soakaways - most modern houses - then the charge will be
removed from the bill. Not a fortune but hey it pays for one month's
BB.

Andy

On 29 Jun 2005 10:25:59 -0700, "Calvin" wrote:


The building regs prefer soakaways as a way of dealing with rainfall
because they allow it to be soaked into the ground over a long(er)
period thus helping to prevent some of the disasterous flooding we've
seen in the last year. They also avoid sewage plants becomming
overloaded during periods of peak rainfall, the outcome of which is,
er, unpleasant.

Even with sewage plants, 20 million tonnes of sewage flow into the
river Thames every year.

Graham

Uno Hoo! wrote:

Well, I know what they are for - I just assumed that they were a last resort
when 'grey-water' sewers were not available. There are both foul-water
sewers and grey water sewers around my house and so I expected the rain
water to go into a proper sewer and not into a soak-away which seems rather
crude! Incidentally I found the end of the drain pipe was almost completely
clogged with dirt, debris, and a mesh of fine roots. All this had just
piled up against the rocks in the soakaway.

All the detail you could want can be found he

http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/grou...ge/br0049.hcsp


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

How do I establish if our house uses soakaways?

Roger


In our area ( Southern Water ) they automatically charge £19 for the
disposal of surface water. However if you can establish your house
uses soakaways - most modern houses - then the charge will be
removed from the bill. Not a fortune but hey it pays for one month's
BB.

Andy

Uno Hoo! wrote:

Ok - thanks for that. You learn something new every day! I had always
assumed that soak-aways were a final resort where grey-water sewers were not
available.

Kev

I always thought the reverse, gery-water sewers only being provided were
soakaways were not practical.

To respond to someone else, grey water sewers do not discharge though a
sewage works. They either go (almost) directly into a river, sea, or a
soakaway.

Not that I should worry having no sewers whatsoever in the road. :-(

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 10:33:56 +0100, "Roger"
wrote:

How do I establish if our house uses soakaways?

Roger


In our area ( Southern Water ) they automatically charge £19 for the
disposal of surface water. However if you can establish your house
uses soakaways - most modern houses - then the charge will be
removed from the bill. Not a fortune but hey it pays for one month's
BB.

Andy



I was fortunate in as much as I can still see the layout in the drive
where they were concreted *after* the main drive, however my neighbour
consulted his deeds prior to my claim and so the fact that these
houses were not connected to the main sewer had sort of been
established. I believe it to be the case that this has been the
situation since before the war, but I couldn't swear to it.

However I also confirmed it by putting a hose down the downpipe and
noting it didn't appear in the sewer ! I tried to get hold of some
drain dye but without success. One plumbers merchant suggested
emulsion paint but that didn't seem a good idea.

Anyway I completed the official form with the facts as I knew them,
including my ' water test ' and they accepted - I'm pretty sure they
already knew - that this house is not connected to the sewer and
removed the charge.

No doubt it's a short term saving, as if enough people opt out, they
will have to eventually recover the income another way.

Andy

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 13:29:21 +0100,it is alleged that Andy Pandy
spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

[snip]

No doubt it's a short term saving, as if enough people opt out, they
will have to eventually recover the income another way.

It would be a great shame if they did. I have been reading (since the
thread about filtering grey water for gardening) about the actual
causes of the droughts. Turns out if everyone (40m households) used
soakaways, the problem would be greatly reduced.

Dumping the rainwater into rivers (via drainage) is what is causing
the problem, it fails to replenish groundwater. Maybe water companies
should give us free water if we can prove use of a soakaway? g

--
There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will
ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to
be shattered at will.
- Albert Einstein, 1932

"Andy Pandy" wrote in message
...



However I also confirmed it by putting a hose down the downpipe and
noting it didn't appear in the sewer ! I tried to get hold of some
drain dye but without success. One plumbers merchant suggested
emulsion paint but that didn't seem a good idea.

Fluorescein's the stuff to use, from chemical suppliers. It's not expensive
and you don't need much.

Mary

Uno Hoo! wrote:
Incidentally I found the end of the drain pipe was almost completely
clogged with dirt, debris, and a mesh of fine roots. All this had just
piled up against the rocks in the soakaway.

There shouldn't be any "rocks" in your soakaway.

"There shouldn't be any "rocks" in your soakaway."
What should be in the soakaway then?
In "normal" terms a soakaway is a hole in the ground filled with rubble
(Rocks if you want) into which the rainwater pipes go.
Sometimes nowadays a hole in the ground is lined with a perforated concrete
ring system, then capped and is hollow but this is not usual, certainly for
properties of more than a few years old

In article ,
"Mary Fisher" writes:

Why don't you divert the roof water into a butt and use it on the garden? We
do, it's marvellous! Spouse is trying to work out how to do something
similar for the caravans :-)

Well, if you take the roof off and don't open the door, they'll
fill up all by themselves...

--
Andrew Gabriel

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...

"Uno Hoo!" wrote in message
...
Is it normal for a house built in the mid 70's to have the roof
rainwater
drain-off ending in a soak-away?
I'm building a largish patio and because of the area am including a
driveway drain at the lowest side. I was planning on splicing into the
rainwater drain but when I dug down to find the drain pipe I found that
it
ended in a soakaway. It's made things much simpler for me because now I
can just feed the drain from the patio down into the soakaway as well
rather than having to break into a run of drain pipe. I'm just
surprised,
however, to find a house rainwater drain ending in a soakaway!

Why don't you divert the roof water into a butt and use it on the garden?
We
do, it's marvellous! Spouse is trying to work out how to do something
similar for the caravans :-)

Mary,

Tow the butt.

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
Uno Hoo! wrote:

Is it normal for a house built in the mid 70's to have the roof
rainwater
drain-off ending in a soak-away?

Yes, very common. If you read the drainage sections of the building regs
then that is one of the prefered ways of dealing with rain water.

Many new homes have a separate rainwater sewer. This gives them water to
re-process, rather than using boreholes or dams, etc. Then the sods charge
you for using their drains and take your water for free.

"Uno Hoo!" wrote in message
...

"Geoffrey" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 17:22:54 +0100, Geoffrey
wrote:

On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 17:14:36 +0100, "Uno Hoo!"
wrote:

Is it normal for a house built in the mid 70's to have the roof
rainwater
drain-off ending in a soak-away?
I'm building a largish patio and because of the area am including a
driveway
drain at the lowest side. I was planning on splicing into the rainwater
drain but when I dug down to find the drain pipe I found that it ended
in
a
soakaway. It's made things much simpler for me because now I can just
feed
the drain from the patio down into the soakaway as well rather than
having
to break into a run of drain pipe. I'm just surprised, however, to
find
a
house rainwater drain ending in a soakaway!

Kev


Where else would it go?

I didn't quite mean that - what I meant was, what else are soakaways
for?

Well, I know what they are for - I just assumed that they were a last
resort
when 'grey-water' sewers were not available. There are both foul-water
sewers and grey water sewers around my house and so I expected the rain
water to go into a proper sewer and not into a soak-away which seems
rather
crude! Incidentally I found the end of the drain pipe was almost
completely
clogged with dirt, debris, and a mesh of fine roots. All this had just
piled up against the rocks in the soakaway.

Put filters in the gutters over the downspouts. Cheap enough. Saves
digging.

"Uno Hoo!" wrote in message
...

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
Uno Hoo! wrote:

Is it normal for a house built in the mid 70's to have the roof
rainwater
drain-off ending in a soak-away?

Yes, very common. If you read the drainage sections of the building regs
then that is one of the prefered ways of dealing with rain water.

Ok - thanks for that. You learn
something new every day! I had always
assumed that soak-aways were a final
resort where grey-water sewers were not
available.

Depends on the area. In some places the soakaways will feed streams, which
will eventually become a drinking water source.

"Chip" wrote in message
n.net...
On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 13:29:21 +0100,it is alleged that Andy Pandy
spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

[snip]

No doubt it's a short term saving, as if enough people opt out, they
will have to eventually recover the income another way.

It would be a great shame if they did. I have been reading (since the
thread about filtering grey water for gardening) about the actual
causes of the droughts. Turns out if everyone (40m households) used
soakaways, the problem would be greatly reduced.

Dumping the rainwater into rivers (via drainage) is what is causing
the problem, it fails to replenish groundwater. Maybe water companies
should give us free water if we can prove use of a soakaway? g

Take an area. The amount of water falling on roofs is minuscule compared to
the water falling on the open land, inc gardens. Soakaways may help when
water levels get very, very low, that's all. They are certainly not the
problem.

Mike Taylor wrote:
"There shouldn't be any "rocks" in your soakaway."
What should be in the soakaway then?

Normally, air.


In "normal" terms a soakaway is a hole in the ground filled with rubble
(Rocks if you want) into which the rainwater pipes go.

That's more of a french drain. If you fill your soakaway with stuff,
there's no holding space for water.


Sometimes nowadays a hole in the ground is lined with a perforated concrete
ring system, then capped and is hollow but this is not usual, certainly for
properties of more than a few years old

They used to be of brick.

On 30 Jun 2005 14:39:17 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) wrote:

In article ,
"Mary Fisher" writes:

Why don't you divert the roof water into a butt and use it on the garden? We
do, it's marvellous! Spouse is trying to work out how to do something
similar for the caravans :-)

Well, if you take the roof off and don't open the door, they'll
fill up all by themselves...

OK, so phone call to IBM tomorrow morning to order a new keyboard (or
perhaps put this one in the dishwasher tonight.....




--

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
"Mary Fisher" writes:

Why don't you divert the roof water into a butt and use it on the garden?
We
do, it's marvellous! Spouse is trying to work out how to do something
similar for the caravans :-)

Well, if you take the roof off and don't open the door, they'll
fill up all by themselves...

No they wouldn't, there are holes (deliberately) in the floors.

Mary

--
Andrew Gabriel

"Doctor Evil" wrote in message
eenews.net...

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...

"Uno Hoo!" wrote in message
...
Is it normal for a house built in the mid 70's to have the roof
rainwater
drain-off ending in a soak-away?
I'm building a largish patio and because of the area am including a
driveway drain at the lowest side. I was planning on splicing into the
rainwater drain but when I dug down to find the drain pipe I found that
it
ended in a soakaway. It's made things much simpler for me because now
I
can just feed the drain from the patio down into the soakaway as well
rather than having to break into a run of drain pipe. I'm just
surprised,
however, to find a house rainwater drain ending in a soakaway!

Why don't you divert the roof water into a butt and use it on the garden?
We
do, it's marvellous! Spouse is trying to work out how to do something
similar for the caravans :-)

Mary,

Tow the butt.

One caravan is on a permanent site on a daughter's farm and the water could
be used in her adjacent greenhouses, saving metered water. The other is in
our gaden and saved water would also be used in our greenhouse.

It makes sense to save as much water as possible.

Mary

Uno Hoo! wrote:

Is it normal for a house built in the mid 70's to have the roof rainwater
drain-off ending in a soak-away?
I'm building a largish patio and because of the area am including a driveway
drain at the lowest side. I was planning on splicing into the rainwater
drain but when I dug down to find the drain pipe I found that it ended in a
soakaway. It's made things much simpler for me because now I can just feed
the drain from the patio down into the soakaway as well rather than having
to break into a run of drain pipe. I'm just surprised, however, to find a
house rainwater drain ending in a soakaway!

Kev


Its still standard practice.
It helps prevent flooding.

Chris Bacon wrote:

Mike Taylor wrote:

"There shouldn't be any "rocks" in your soakaway."
What should be in the soakaway then?


Normally, air.


In "normal" terms a soakaway is a hole in the ground filled with
rubble (Rocks if you want) into which the rainwater pipes go.


That's more of a french drain. If you fill your soakaway with stuff,
there's no holding space for water.


Sometimes nowadays a hole in the ground is lined with a perforated
concrete ring system, then capped and is hollow but this is not usual,
certainly for properties of more than a few years old


They used to be of brick.

Thtas ********. Al a soakaway is is a temmporary chamber to hold water
before it soaks away into the surrounding soil

It can be enything from a custom plastic jobby to a simple 'dry pond'
that only fills up briefly after it rains.. pits full of rubble covered
in soil are traditional, work well, and are still sokaways.