SOAKAWAY FOR RAIN ! anyone got any words of wisdom?

[(RIP) PLANK]

I am planning to dig a soakaway for rain water fomr a roof space of approx 25 square meters. Ihave read all the maths and soil percolation calculations etc. but does anyone have any practical ideas and advice?

My initial plan was so cut top and bottom from a 205 lite plastc drum and plant this filled with rubble a 2 inch compressed slab lid over the top to to keep the mud out then about 6 inches of soil and turf over that to blend into the landscape this way the water would soak from the bottom only rather than the sides as well, but would it work?

any ideas?

[Terranosaurus]

Here's an idea why don't you come up here and build a test one and I'll trial it and report back in a month or 2 and let you know how its going on - its turning to a right quaqmire where I park with all this rain.

[(RIP) PLANK]

: nice try, dig your own! :

[zippy656]

hi, Ive done a french drain, same kind of thing.

all by hand so, if you can keep it away from the house or builing, needs to be a lot bigger if soils is a clay type. if at all posable make it biger than you think you need, as its so wet all the time
.

[(RIP) PLANK]

I have never heard of a french drain , is it anyhting like a herringbone soakaway?

it wil be greater than the required 5 meters from the house and the land all slopes drestically awya fomr the house at that pont! in fact a drop of around 30 feet in about 100 feet!

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

french drain, is that a bit like euro tunnel? :?

[dinky]

Wellingtons

[zippy656]

i had wet wall in my office, single skin no damp course, soil above ground level..

so french drain is dig soil away an dfill with rubble to keep damp soil off the wall.

[DJ38]

Your correct about minimum 5 mt from your property.
I made mine very similar 5 years ago, approx 2m cube.
Ran x2 rain water pipes to it,
No problems so far, had a lot of water lately here, all surrounding fields are natural lakes at the mo.
Just make sure your bottle traps have just an entry for your gutter down pipes.
Caught my plasterers trying to pour his watered down mix down it, not good.
Sounds like your idea of making one is spot on.

[willow]

The french have open soak aways for their cesspits in rural france and they work very well.
I have open soak aways on my land most drain into a deep pond that has a gravel bottom They are just shallow ditches dug out and filled with gravel. easy to keep un blocked. :smile:

[zippy656]

your clever you are


and blonde,,,

[terranokid]

why not get a big plastic tank 1000ltrs bury in in the garden and pump it back to the house for flushing the toilet and to fill the washing machine not only will it save your water bill its softer water and will save on detergent.

[(RIP) PLANK]

Originally Posted by terranokid

why not get a big plastic tank 1000ltrs bury in in the garden and pump it back to the house for flushing the toilet and to fill the washing machine not only will it save your water bill its softer water and will save on detergent.

Not a bad idea but a bit more trouble than i wanted to go to at this stage but Its certainly an idea, at tleat in the sense of reusing the collected water for some other purpose, I did get a water but an d still have it, but, as i never water anyhting it hasn't preved that usefull.

But there must be something i can do and yours is an interesting idea

[(RIP) PLANK]

I get waht a french drain is now, I have an outbuliding in a similar situation it is about 8 inches below the patio level and we did the same with that an open treanch then lined the wall with liquid damp proof mebrane and fille the tranch with broken slabs and topped with gravel, it has worked pretty well, but it didnt stop the roof leaking :

[terranokid]

you can get the tanks of ebay relitibly cheap they have a metal cage around them to stop them crushing Its just diging a hole big enough or you could cut it into the side of your hill