What is a deep bore soakaway?

What is a soakaway borehole? Also known as a deep bore soakaway, this is a drainage system installed beneath the surface of the ground. It collects excess water from the surface to keep the ground in good condition.

How deep is a deep bore soakaway?

The size of the chamber is dependant on how much water flow will come into the chamber at peak flow and how quickly the water runs away down the deep bore soakaway pipe. Chamber depths do not usually extend beyond 7 metres and generally are 3 to 4 metres in depth.

What is the purpose of a soakaway?

Soakaways are a long established way of dealing with rainfall. They are essentially a pit in the ground into which you run your rainwater drainage. They are also used, less frequently, to dispose of the effluent from septic tanks, where they are more commonly known as leaching fields.

What is a soakaway UK?

A soakaway is a hole dug into the ground that is filled with coarse stone and rubble or plastic crates. It allows water to filter through it, and literally soak into the ground (away).

Can you put a soakaway in clay?

DON’T install a soakaway in heavy clay soil, the water cannot drain through this so it won’t work if this is in your garden. DON’T install a soakaway if you live in a polluted area prone to smog. Soakaways are no appropriate for polluted rainwater.

What do Soakaways look like?

They look like a series of perforated pipes laid in trenches in an area of land around your property, usually your garden or a field. The area around these pipes will then be covered over, usually with stones or gravel and turf, with the treated foul water being discharged into this land.

What does a bore hole look like?

In terms of the borehole itself, once it’s completed your borehole looks like a manhole cover that’s level with the ground. It’s lockable to make sure that there’s no danger to you or others who might be wandering over it, and can open if you need to get to it at any stage.

How deep must a soakaway be?

How deep should a soakaway be? The Perforated pipe should be laid at a minimum depth of 200mm and a maximum depth of 700mm. This enables aerobic contact between the effluent and the drainage stone and soil particles. This leads to aerobic digestion and effectively treats the effluent.

How do I find out where my soakaway is?

The easiest way to find a soakaway is to follow the rainwater downpipes from your house and see how far they go. Often, the downpipes from your home will lead to a sunken area on your lawn. You need to be eagle-eyed, however, as soakaways are installed discreetly, so they can be hard to find.

What is the purpose of bore hole?

Boreholes are made for a variety of purposes including the investigation and sampling of the geological succession for construction, water abstraction, or mineral extraction purposes, and monitoring of groundwater behavior and composition.

Does a borehole add value to your property?

Water Boreholes Increases Property Value If you have a water borehole, however, it is not only a selling point in and of itself, but it allows you to maintain your garden even during times of severe water restrictions, meaning you can maintain the appearance of your property and attract more buyers.

Can you drink water from borehole?

In short, yes, borehole water is usually safe to drink. However, The Private Water Supplies Regulations has said that you must have your private water supply checked to ensure it is consistent with drinking water standards.

Do new houses have Soakaways?

Over the last 20 years, since new Building Regulations were introduced in 2001, it has been MANDATORY for housing developments and new properties to be built with soakaways, or similar, systems so that the surface water created when it rains on these properties is “self-contained” and does not run off into the main …

A deep bore soakaway is a special type of rainwater soakaway consisting of a conventional chamber and a narrow bore perforated liner extending to the infiltration medium. These types of soakaway are useful where a very good infiltration medium underlies a deep layer of poor infiltration material, such as gravels underlying a deep layer of clay.

What are the drainage standards for a soakaway borehole?

The proposed soakaway borehole must meet the drainage standards for soil infiltration and storage emptying. This includes the distance of at least 1m from the bottom of the construction to the top of the groundwater level, at any time of year, to avoid exceeding the ground’s soakage capacity.

What is a soakaway and how is it constructed?

It’s constructed by digging a small hole, then inserting a cylindrical chamber with perforations or filling it with rubble, which allows the water to drain into the soil. As the alternative name ‘ deep bore soakaway ’ suggests, this type is inserted much deeper into the ground.

How deep can a soakaway be for a house?

The depth of the soakaway depends on the soil. Usually, the council will only accept soakaways of up to 2.5m deep for dwelling. This is because deeper soakaway tends to carry risk to the stability of houses should they need to be removed in the future.