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Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2005 8:45 pm
by SonHouse
3 downpipes 20 ft and a further 6 ft apart at the side of a large house currently spill out onto and across a 4 ft wide pathway and the water makes its own way down a bank the bank is about 10 ft high and about 45 degrees steep I have been asked to collect the water and direct it to a new soakaway or similar. Where should I site the soakaway or suds unit. How could I achieve this please?

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 5:58 pm
by Tony McC
We can't see the site so all that can be said is that the soakaway has to be at least 5 metres away from any building foundation.

Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2005 11:47 pm
by TheRobster
1) Should be at least 5m away from the nearest building foundation.

2) Should (if possible) be at the low-point of the site to prevent re-emergance of water e.g. if you put the soakaway at the top of a slope the water will probably just migrate through the soil and re-emerge partway up the embankment.

3) You need to think about what happens if/when the soakaway floods....which is probably will at some point (e.g. during a 1/100 storm event) unless you build an enormous soakaway. Think about the flood flow paths and try to keep them away from buildings or any critical areas.

Also, do you know if a soakaway is suitable for the site? Have you performed any infiltration tests? Usually testing is done to BRE 365 standards in the UK.