What Is A Soakaway Drain And How Does A Soakaway Work?

A soakaway is a drainage system designed to collect and deliver rainwater safely into the ground. A soakaway can be connected to the main drainage system or used on its own, but it’s not connected to your sewage system, so you don’t have to worry about it overflowing into your bathroom or kitchen.

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The soakaway drainage system is basically a pit or trench dug in your garden that collects rainwater from an area. The water then seeps into the ground, keeping it from flooding.

A soakaway is basically the functional equivalent of a storm drain, but the main difference between a soakaway drainage system and your typical storm drain is that when you install one in your property, you won’t have to connect it to an underground pipe leading away from your house.

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Instead, you’ll just need to bury the absorbent material at the bottom of the hole so that water can run through it into the ground below—and no matter where this happens (ground level or above), there will always be something covering up both ends so insects can’t fall in accidentally (this helps prevent them from getting stuck).

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How Does a Soakaway Work?

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A soakaway is a water collection system that allows you to use the soil to dispose of your household wastewater, including toilet waste and grey water.

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Soakaways work by collecting rainwater and other surface water in a large underground container (known as a soakaway pit). The collected water then flows through pipes into the ground which allows it to seep down and filter through soil until it either evaporates into the air or reaches groundwater.

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Good bacteria in the soakaway digest impurities in the wastewater and effectively clean it before it seeps into the water table.

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How Can You Tell if Your Soakaway is Blocked?

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If there are puddles of water on the surface, or if the ground is damp around your soakaway, then it’s probably blocked. This can happen for a number of reasons:

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• There may be leaves or other debris in the soakaway which need to be removed. If you have a soakaway that isn’t used to dealing with leaves and other garden waste, it’s likely that the organic matter will build up over time. This will eventually clog the system and stop water from draining properly. You should remove any large pieces of vegetation from around and within the soakaway to prevent blockages from occurring again in the future. You should also keep an eye on this area so that any new growth does not grow too large before being cleared out again.

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• Building materials such as brick or mortar. If any building materials fall into your soakaway (for example, if someone empties out their rain gutter), they could potentially block it.

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• A lack of rainwater or too much water being diverted elsewhere into the garden (for example, into another drain) may stop the natural flow of water into the soakaway drainage system and result in a drain blockage.

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How to Unblock a Soakaway

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There are several ways to unblock a soakaway, depending on the type of blockage you have. Soakaways are typically blocked by tree roots, but they can also be blocked by animal waste or other debris.

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• Use a drain snake: A drain snake is a long flexible cable that can be fed into the drain to clear out any debris that could be blocking it. The main advantage of using a drain snake is that it’s easy and quick to use, but it won’t work if your soakaway is blocked by something too large for the cable to move around (like tree roots). Also, if you’ve got a lot of leaves and other organic matter in your soakaway then it may not be able to clear this out either.

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• Use a water jetter: If your soakaway isn’t very deep and drains easily, then one option would be for someone with knowledge about plumbing systems in general — such as an expert plumber—to use special equipment called “water jetters” which shoot high-pressure jets at whatever’s blocking up the pipe so that all sorts go through again. Our company, Pro Blocked Drains, can advise you on what to do to solve any problem of your soakaway drainage and help you get back to normal as quickly as possible.

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Can you Connect Rainwater Drains to Sewage Pipes?

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It is illegal to connect rainwater drains to sewage pipes. You can only connect them to rainwater drains, soakaway drains, or a rainwater harvesting system.

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When Can a Soakaway Drain be Used?

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Soakaways can be used for the following situations:

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• If you have a rainwater drain and you want to divert some of the water from your roof into a soakaway.

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• If you are building or renovating and need to install a soakaway in order to capture harmful contaminants from existing surfaces such as concrete, brickwork, or stone.

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• When there is no drainage system on your property at all – this is common on new builds where there has been no planning permission sought yet for installing pipework later down the line (this often happens with basement extensions).

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Keep your soakaway drains clear.

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Despite being able to deal with large volumes of water, soakaway drains can still become blocked by debris such as leaves. For this reason, you should check that your soakaway drain is clear regularly.

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If you have the time and knowledge, you can do this yourself, or you can schedule a regular maintenance check by contacting your local Pro Blocked Drain engineer in Canford Heath. They will survey your soakaway drainage system and provide a schedule for you–giving you total peace of mind.

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Final Words

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Soakaway drainage is a great way to reduce your water bill, and it can also keep your home and garden more secure. If you have any questions about how to use a soakaway drain or whether it is right for your property, get in touch with us today!

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Pro Blocked Drains have been working with all types of drainage systems throughout the UK for over 20 years and has extensive experience in all types of drainage problems. What’s more, we have local engineers in Canford Heath, so help is always only a phone call away.

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Our aim is always to solve your problem as quickly as possible without causing further damage or inconvenience along the way–we try our best not only because this saves time but also because it reduces costs by avoiding unnecessary repairs later down the line when there may be more complications involved!

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With Pro Blocked Drains, we guarantee you:

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• Fully Qualified Safe Contractor Approved Workers

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• Quick Response Time

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• Full Indemnity Insurance

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• Competitive Prices

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• 24/7 drain services

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• Availability 365 days of the year

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• No Call Out Fee

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• Free Quotations

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• Friendly service

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• Guaranteed Work

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• 5-star rating

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• Peace of mind

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If you need more information about our services, please get in touch with us today either by dropping us an email or calling on 0800 611 82 99. We will give you a free quote for all work carried out by our team of specialists.

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We also offer a 24/7/365 emergency service for any urgent repairs you may nrequire. Our friendly, knowledgeable staff are always happy to help! Learn more information about Sink And Drain Unblocker.