Soakaway repair starts with one question: is the water failing to reach the soakaway, or is the soakaway failing to let it go? The answer decides whether the fix is a jetting visit or a dig. We work from our Pumpherston base on surface water drainage for houses and small commercial sites, and we look at the pipe on camera before anyone lifts a spade. Call 07427 195142 or send a short message through the form.
What is a soakaway?
A soakaway is a buried pit or tank that takes rainwater from roofs, drives and paths and lets it seep slowly into the surrounding ground. Older ones are holes filled with broken brick or stone. Newer ones are plastic crates, sometimes called a soakaway tank, wrapped in a fabric that keeps soil out. Either way, the soakaway only holds water for a while; the ground around it does the real work. Our guide to soakaways and surface water drainage explains the design side in more depth.
Signs a soakaway is blocked
A soakaway rarely fails overnight. The warning signs build over a few wet seasons, and they are easy to mistake for a blocked foul drain.
- Downpipes or gullies backing up during heavy rain
- A patch of lawn that stays soft or ponds long after a shower
- Water standing in the chamber nearest the soakaway
- Gravel or silt washing out across a drive
- Damp appearing low on a wall near where the pipe runs
How to fix a soakaway
First we check the pipe that feeds it. Leaves, moss and grit from gutters settle in that run, and a blocked inlet looks exactly like a full soakaway from the surface. Rods or high pressure water jetting clear it, and a camera then shows whether the pipe is cracked, sagging or has roots through a joint.
If the pipe is clear and water still backs up, the soakaway itself is the problem. A rubble pit that has filled with silt cannot be cleaned out in place; it has to be dug out and rebuilt or replaced. A crate system with a silt trap or inspection point can sometimes be flushed through. Where the inlet pipe is broken, a short section can be relaid or, if it suits, patched without digging; see no-dig drain repairs.
When repair is not enough
Some soakaways were simply put in the wrong place: too close to the house, too small for the roof they serve, or in heavy clay that barely takes water at all. Rebuilding one of those in the same spot gives the same result. In that case the honest answer may be a larger replacement, a different position, or another route for the water such as a drainage channel or land drainage. We explain what the footage and ground show and leave the choice with you.
Soakaway installation and cost
New soakaways are usually needed when an extension or new drive adds hard surface, or when an old one has to be moved. Building standards in Scotland expect surface water to be dealt with properly, and a soakaway generally has to sit a set distance from buildings and boundaries, so it is worth checking with the council before work starts on a new build.
The cost of a soakaway repair or installation depends on how deep it is, how much ground has to be opened, whether the feed pipe also needs work, and how easy the site is to reach. A blocked inlet that only needs jetting is a very different job from a full replacement under a lawn. We give a price once we have seen the footage.
Do I need a soakaway?
Not every home has one. Many houses in towns send roof water into a combined or surface water sewer instead. Your title plans, a CCTV drain survey or tracing the downpipes on site will show where yours goes. If the rainwater has nowhere sensible to go, a soakaway is one of the usual answers, provided the ground will take it.
Questions
Can a soakaway unblocker product fix it?
Rarely. Bottled unblockers are made for kitchen fat and hair, not for silt and soil packed into stone or crates. If the inlet pipe is blocked, jetting clears it far more reliably.
How long should a soakaway last?
It depends on how it was built and how much silt reaches it. One with a silt trap that is cleaned out from time to time lasts much longer than one fed straight from gutters.
Is a failing soakaway my responsibility?
Usually, yes. A soakaway serving one property sits on private land and is the owner's to maintain. Shared ones are set out in the title deeds.
Can you tell if the problem is the soakaway or the drain?
Yes. A camera run along the feed pipe shows whether water reaches the soakaway freely. If it does and still backs up, the soakaway itself has stopped draining.