Soakaway Law

New regulations as of 1st October 2008

Every other phone call we take regarding Driveways is "do we need planning permission" or "we must use a permeable surface"..........rubbish! read on

As you may or may not know the government brought in new regulations for the installation of driveways on the 1st of October 2009.

In summary the new regulations are designed to reduce the volume of water being sent into the storm water system from residential driveways as the guys from DEFRA seem to think this will reduce flooding and pollution.

Suggested solutions are permeable paving or any other permeable surfaces such as gravel. If a non-porous surface is to be used then soakaways and rain gardens are to be used instead of sending water onto the road.As a last resort where there is no choice but to send water onto the public highway than planning permission may be required.

All employees at D.Plumridge have been trained in these new regulations and can provide you with all the necessary information upon our initial visit to plan your new driveway...

What is a Soakaway

Soakaways are a traditional way of disposing of surface water from buildings remote from a suitable public sewer or watercourse. A soakaway must have capacity to store immediate run-off from roofs and hard surfaces and the water must then be able to disperse into the surrounding soil quickly enough for the soakaway to be able to cope with the next storm.

Soakaways are probably the most common form of surface water disposal and are usually suitable for areas less than 100m2.

Soakaways are generally formed from square or circular pits, filled with rubble or lined with dry jointed masonry or perforated concrete ring units. Soakaways serving larger areas are generally lined pits, trench type soakaways or constructed from specialist proprietary units.

Below is an example of a soakaway