The programme plan for Soakaways set up
The most important thing that you have to care about while undertaking any DIY plumbing, soakaways and sewage work are the Local Authority regulations which they actively monitor.
If you are considering altering your existing drainage, or installing a new soakaways system you will almost certainly need to present some detailed plans of the work that you intend to undertake and it will need to be inspected as the work progresses making sure that it complies with the local building rules. In many situations when you are simply replacing damaged parts, there is no need for the local authority to be advised.
Whatever water we see on the surface around your home is usually rain water. In older properties this can discharged into a foul water drainage system whereas in other properties this can discharged into soakaways, watercourses or a surface water sewer. If gully traps are fixed at the junction of the rainwater pipe and the waste water drain, foul odour can be controlled. However, modern systems are designed to keep the foul water and the surface water apart. It’s absolutely crucial that you keep the dirty water drainage system apart from the one for surface water. If you are unsure about the drainage system around your house get advice from the Building Control Department before you start any work.
If you see water bubbling up in your garden it is probable from the garden soakaways and not the sewers. The soakaways can take rainwater from the gutters and sometimes they fill up if there have been long periods of heavy rain..
Before starting your work, finalise the routes the waste pipes would take. The main things to consider when planning the route of a waste or soil pipe are to keep the route as straight and short as you can. Steep pipes should be avoided during the path design. Use the surveyor’s site level to calculate the drain fall over the complete system. Or just fill a transparent hosepipe with water and use the water level at the two ends to mark the required fall from the starting point.
Don’t compromise the stability of the home when installing the drainage ditch. You have to make sure that no house foundation is undermined if you are laying a drain pipe running parallel to the building.
Try to leave as short a time as possible between digging the ditch and installing the drainage system as an empty ditch represents a risk with the potential for a sidewall collapse. Get the pipes laid quickly and, as soon as they have been tested, fill the trench back in.
The ditch may need to be supported depending on the depth and soil conditions. It is no advisable to not take any risks. It is better to provide support to the ditch walls than allowing the ditch to collapse. Keep the ditch as narrow as possible, but allow room to work in the trench. Protruding stones or bricks should not be left in the base and it should be cleaned to provide a smooth, regular surface. You may need to import a suitable material for the base of the trench if the existing material is unsuitable.
Bricks and/or any other sturdy material should never be used to prop up the pipe in the trench. This will damage the pipe and must never be used as temporary or permanent support. For accommodation of the joints in the pipes,the bedding should be compacted in a regular way with hollows made a appropriate points. A good guideline is that support should be provided for the entire length of the pipe.
An important criteria for pipe layout is that you should be able to access any point with a drain rod to clear blockages. Therefore, a run of drains should be as straight as possible between two points. As a rule of thumb, a directional change in the pipework must have an inspection chamber for rodding access as drain rods do no go around corners.
Following this guide you can see that DIY soakaways creation, plumbing and drainage can be delivered by conscientious DIY enthusiasts.