Soakaway - soakpit for house

Whizzo

Hi
I'm looking for a bit of advice regarding rainwater and domestic waste water.

I live in a rural location and my rainwater goes onto the ground and I want to put in drains and pipe work to a soak pit. Obviously I'll have to build the soakpit large enough to suit my roof. What I want is some suggestion on types of soakpit to use -

Regarding my domestic waste water - ie from sinks/diswasher and washing machine - the existing soakpit is clogging up all the time. A neighbour told me the washing machine silts them up. Again can anyone advise on a soakpit desgn for this.

I plan to do this work my self so all advise will be appreciated.

SAXA

No soakpit will solve the problem of silt and grease blocking the pipes. What you need is to put in a grease trap/bucket to collect all this before it enters the soakpit.

bakerbhoy

Your domestic waste water should go to your septic/bio system.

If there is an old land drain on your site it would be ideal for rain water soakaway.Ask your ground work man if he came across one during excavation.

stapeler

JFC plactics in Galway produce a domestic greasetrap, http://www.jfc.ie/index.asp?active_page_id=42
I used to get blockages before I installed one and it has worked great, I empty it every couple of months and it's amazing the amount of grease collected.
Reguarding soakpit, Mine is a large hole dug and filled with 20tonne of pebble.
I dropped two 18" dia concrete pipes into it which it allows it to be emptied if needed. Still works fine after 3yrs.

Whizzo

bakerbhoy wrote:

Your domestic waste water should go to your septic/bio system.

If there is an old land drain on your site it would be ideal for rain water soakaway.Ask your ground work man if he came across one during excavation.

I have an old septic tank, so only the sewer pipe goes to this.


Stapeler, can you describe what you mean re the 18" pipe to empty the soak pit.

stapeler

Apologies for poor description,
I dug a hole approx 12feet long by 10feet deep and 4feed wide, partially filled with pebbles before laying two concrete pipes into it at approx 45degrees. The top of the pipe appears just above ground level and is covered. Then filled with pebbles and covered with soil. In the event that it fills, a local farmer with a tank can drop down a pipe and remove excess. That the theory anyway..

spud2

I'm currently just digging out soak pits.Any recommendations on how far the 4" pipe should extend into the soak pit ?
I have a slight fall away form the front of the soak pit where the Pipe enters so I recekon about 1 foot or so shoould do it -

regards
Mike

hobie

A very wise drain man told me to make the soak pit in the form of a trench ....

For example, make one 24 long x 2ft wide or better still a couple of them going in different directions .....

partially fill the trench to the tank outlet level with pebbles ......

run 4" waste pipe from the tank along the full trench length with regular 'T' fitting outlets along the pipe ...... slope the pipe away from the tank outlet ....

After your pipe/fittings are in place top up with pepples to a foot or so below soil level ....

lay builders plastic sheet on top of the pepples and finish off with top soil ....

You only want to do this job once so it's important to get the best drainage performance .... :rolleyes:

danjo

bakerbhoy wrote:

Your domestic waste water should go to your septic/bio system.

Just wondering if the detergents from the washing machine and dishwasher would not affect the operation of the septic tank?

hobie

danjo wrote:

Just wondering if the detergents from the washing machine and dishwasher would not affect the operation of the septic tank?

Our house rules are .....

Only non-bio tablets .....

no bleach/Disinfectant etc down the loo ...... (jiff cream is ok)

No fat/cooking oil down the sink ....

For years we've used Cesclean (Bio Bugs additive) ... one pouch every month