Soakaway
 

I'm going to have to build a soakaway, which will take surface water from a
55m2 garden...there are no drains in the area.
The subsoil is mostly clay, but it's at the top of a hill - what size should
I dig the hole and what should I fill it with? - there are no limits to the
size of hole, nor to the infill material(s)

TIA

--
If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs.

Phil L wrote:
I'm going to have to build a soakaway, which will take surface
water
from a 55m2 garden...there are no drains in the area.
The subsoil is mostly clay, but it's at the top of a hill - what
size
should I dig the hole and what should I fill it with? - there are
no
limits to the size of hole, nor to the infill material(s)

TIA

For anything like this, you can't beat McCormack:
http://www.pavingexpert.com/drain08.html

--
Mike.

Mike Lyle wrote:
:: Phil L wrote:
::: I'm going to have to build a soakaway, which will take surface water
::: from a 55m2 garden...there are no drains in the area.
::: The subsoil is mostly clay, but it's at the top of a hill - what size
::: should I dig the hole and what should I fill it with? - there are no
::: limits to the size of hole, nor to the infill material(s)
:::
::: TIA
::
:: For anything like this, you can't beat McCormack:
:: http://www.pavingexpert.com/drain08.html
::
:: --
:: Mike.

That's just the thing I'm looking for, although it's not looking too
promising WRT the heavy clay soil :-(
....and it's only about 2ft deep, sitting on top of sandstone - it's looking
like I'll have to dig a 20m trench to lay a new drain, which i was ring to
avoid as it goes under a wall.

--
If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs.

Phil L wrote:
Mike Lyle wrote:
Phil L wrote:
I'm going to have to build a soakaway, which will take surface
water from a 55m2 garden...there are no drains in the area.
The subsoil is mostly clay, but it's at the top of a hill - what
size should I dig the hole and what should I fill it with? -
there
are no limits to the size of hole, nor to the infill material(s)

TIA

For anything like this, you can't beat McCormack:
http://www.pavingexpert.com/drain08.html

--
Mike.

That's just the thing I'm looking for, although it's not looking
too
promising WRT the heavy clay soil :-(
...and it's only about 2ft deep, sitting on top of sandstone - it's
looking like I'll have to dig a 20m trench to lay a new drain,
which
i was ring to avoid as it goes under a wall.

Surely you're quids in if it's only two feet down to sandstone?

--
Mike.

Mike Lyle wrote:
:: Phil L wrote:
::: Mike Lyle wrote:
::::: Phil L wrote:
:::::: I'm going to have to build a soakaway, which will take surface
:::::: water from a 55m2 garden...there are no drains in the area.
:::::: The subsoil is mostly clay, but it's at the top of a hill - what
:::::: size should I dig the hole and what should I fill it with? - there
:::::: are no limits to the size of hole, nor to the infill material(s)
::::::
:::::: TIA
:::::
::::: For anything like this, you can't beat McCormack:
::::: http://www.pavingexpert.com/drain08.html
:::::
::::: --
::::: Mike.
:::
::: That's just the thing I'm looking for, although it's not looking too
::: promising WRT the heavy clay soil :-(
::: ...and it's only about 2ft deep, sitting on top of sandstone - it's
::: looking like I'll have to dig a 20m trench to lay a new drain, which
::: i was ring to avoid as it goes under a wall.
::
:: Surely you're quids in if it's only two feet down to sandstone?

Not really as I can't get it deep enough to be effective, it will need to be
1.3 metres deep and I'm not going two feet into sandstone!
Another drawback is that it's going to be less than 5 metres away from a
building, two of them in fact, both houses.

--
If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs.

In article ,
Phil L wrote:

Not really as I can't get it deep enough to be effective, it will need to be
1.3 metres deep and I'm not going two feet into sandstone!

Well, the answer to how large a soakaway has to be in clay is that
it is not a question[*].

Another drawback is that it's going to be less than 5 metres away from a
building, two of them in fact, both houses.

Sad. Provided that you can reach free-draining soil, it doesn't
matter. Our 1930s house had soakaways less than 5 INCHES from
the hous (on 60% sand).
[*] I.e. the predicate is false. To translate, any soakaway on
clay will fill up eventually in the UK, as precipitation exceeds
evaporation even in Essex. My father-in-law dug one 2+ metres
deep and a similar width, and it did, every winter.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

To translate, any soakaway on
clay will fill up eventually in the UK, as precipitation exceeds
evaporation even in Essex. My father-in-law dug one 2+ metres
deep and a similar width, and it did, every winter.

Even my sandy-soil soakaway sometimes gets filled to the brim in
prolonged rainstorms. I can tell when the turf overlying the spot swells
up into a noticeable bulge :-) They don't empty by evaporation, (I know
you didn't mean to imply that, but just for the sake of the innocent,
okay? ) but by slowly filtering water out into the surrounding soil. In
the case of my soakaway, the too-full bulge subsides again soon after
the rain stops. Phil is likely to experience a longer delay in clay.

Agreed - thanks for clarifying. In solid clay, in winter, the delay
is almost invariably so long that soakaways don't. They simply fill
up and overflow. They DO help in summer, a bit.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.