When you have a soakaway installed, it allows rainwater to be collected from your building, which is then dispersed into the soil in a suitable location, preventing the excess water damaging the foundations of your building. However, for your soakaway to work, two components have to be in place. Firstly, your building has to have a system in place for getting water to the soakaway. According to the folks at RSG roofing, most buildings use a gutter system to move water from the building to the soakaway. Secondly, it’s vital that a porosity test is undertaken to establish the size and visibility of a soakaway in the specific location. It must be noted, this method of drainage is not suitable in clay soils that will not allow water to pass through them. Drain Maintain can make sure that both components of your soakaway system are working properly.
Previously, a soakawy might have just been a simple arrangements where a hole would be dug in the ground and back-filled with hardcore and gravel, which would then allow the rainwater to gradually seep away into the surrounding soil. However this sort of arrangement could problematic because fine soil particles, moss and other materials could enter the system through the rainwater pipe or gully, causing the soakaway to clog up and the area would then become wet.
A more efficient system uses modular attenuation cells, which look like old milk bottle crates. These cells are lightweight plastic structures with a high void ratio that allow them to be buried in the grounding, providing a storage area for water while it percolates into the surrounding soil. This system is far more effective, stronger and can be covered with a layer of soil or grassed over.
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