My extension has been up for some years but I've never got around to
installing a soakaway - at present rainwater goes straight into a butt which
drains onto the garden via a hose.
The council have written saying that I need a soakaway so I'm about to
start.
I understand that it needs to be a minimum 5m from the building and that the
hole should be a minimum 1m3 but I'm not too sure about the pipe depth -
does this need to be a minimum depth under the patio/decking ?
If the soakaway is 5m from the house and the pipe enters it halfway down
(0.5m), incorporating a fall in the pipe, I can see that it will be quite
near the surface at the house end ??
I have looked at the pavingexpert site and am not much the wiser so if
anyone can give me any hints or tips I would be most grateful.

Many thanks,

Franko.

Franko wrote:
My extension has been up for some years but I've never got around to
installing a soakaway - at present rainwater goes straight into a butt which
drains onto the garden via a hose.
The council have written saying that I need a soakaway so I'm about to
start.
I understand that it needs to be a minimum 5m from the building and that the
hole should be a minimum 1m3 but I'm not too sure about the pipe depth -
does this need to be a minimum depth under the patio/decking ?
If the soakaway is 5m from the house and the pipe enters it halfway down
(0.5m), incorporating a fall in the pipe, I can see that it will be quite
near the surface at the house end ??
I have looked at the pavingexpert site and am not much the wiser so if
anyone can give me any hints or tips I would be most grateful.

Many thanks,

Franko.


Might e bet o ask te BCO, but a basic soakaway merely needs a pipe with
about 1:60 fall to a gravel filled pit with a bit of polythene over the
top and some topsoil thrown over that.