Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Jul 01, 2009 11:50 am If you are in Perth where there are very common, it is hard work but the digging is easy due to the sand. I suggest concrete so you are not doing a very awkward and costly repair in a few years. A good base of blue metal gravel or even pea gravel (which is easy to get here). Fill the base a little as well and down the sides too if you can. The top of the lid need to be at least 300mm deep but 400mm is better. That way you reduce the risk of having sand blow up through your paving. I find the ag drainage pipe much better and same depths. I often link them to form a network so overflowing isn't such an issue. I don't like to join the down pipe directly to the soak well pipe as is done to stormwater over east. By separating them at the base with a grate of sorts (I'll post later) when the soakwell fills (and it will) you don't get a build up of water pressure forcing out sand through your paving and you don't have your eves flooded. Re: SOAKWELLS - How easy are they to put in and install ? 3Jul 09, 2009 4:12 pm One standard roll of 90mm ag pipe is the equivalent to 1 and a bit soak wells for drainage. Re: SOAKWELLS - How easy are they to put in and install ? 4Feb 08, 2010 11:36 pm Nudge to the top.. I have a block with a storm water drain already installed by the developer. I have a house (still being built) with 8 down pipes located around the outside. So there's the basic's! Now what i'm thinking is, running a 100mm PVC pipe down each side of the house, with the local downpipes connected into it. This would split the load evenly with 3 downpipes running into each 100mm PVC pipe. On the right hand side the 100mm pipe would run straight into the storm water system. On the left hand side it would be connected up to another 100mm pipe running along the front of the house to the storm water system. There would be two additional downpipes running into the front 100MM pipe as well. Now i have a few questions about this, mainly is 100mm pipe large enough? I'm concerned that the front 100MM pipe, which will end up with 5 down pipes feeding into it will be far to small to handle a heavy rain in winter. I'm thinking there might be a need to run the 100mm pipe from left hand side direct to the storm water system, and run the front two downpipes separately. Does anyone know what the flow of water would be like? Or how to calculate what it will be? Is there any better ideas or suggestions? Re: SOAKWELLS - How easy are they to put in and install ? 5Feb 09, 2010 1:05 am Run two or three 100m pipes next to each other. however having said that, it will very much depend on where you live. If you live in Southern WA then it is a no brainer and the 100mm will be heaps. If you have to go bigger than 100mm those sizes are expensive as. So would be cheaper to drop two 100mm lines in if you have to. Re: SOAKWELLS - How easy are they to put in and install ? 6Feb 09, 2010 1:07 am I'm in the new LWP estate in Byford, so the soil being clay is pretty useless for getting rid of water. How would you suggest running the 3 x 100m pipes? One for each side, and one for the front? PS - Thanks for the advice! Re: SOAKWELLS - How easy are they to put in and install ? 7Feb 09, 2010 1:17 am 100mm should be fine. Most pipes are 90mm normally here in Perth. Byford is fine still I would just stick to the plan. If you lived in Brissie or Darwin, then yeah, you'd need more. You'll be fine with 90mm ag drain running into 100mm storm water pipe. Or just using the 90mm storm pipe into 100mm. Just as I said, separate the drain pipe from the ground. that way if it over flows it won't do it in your roof space Re: SOAKWELLS - How easy are they to put in and install ? 8Feb 09, 2010 1:54 am Ok great! Whats your thoughts on using the small plastic box drains? I spotted them in bunnings yesterday, they're essentially just a 30cm square box, with a normal grate on top, and they connect to a drain pipe at the bottom? May be a bit over kill i guess.. Re: SOAKWELLS - How easy are they to put in and install ? 10Feb 09, 2010 3:21 pm Hi Guys - Just a thought We have used old 4WD or Truck tyres for soak wells in place of the crappy plastic ones you can get from bunnings or the concrete ones. We can get them free from the tip and then just lay them on top of each other in the hole with the normal top and all the other bits and pieces. I have never had a problem with them and hey, recycle recycle recycle! THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE IS 495 SQM OF BEACH SAND AND WEEDS! http://missvintageshouseofpain.blogspot.com/ Re: SOAKWELLS - How easy are they to put in and install ? 12Feb 09, 2010 10:32 pm Ahhh, but tyres are an environmental nightmare and contaminate ground water and harm soil health. There have been significant studies into the use of recycled tyres and the toxic chemicals they leach. relative more with sport, kids, and veggie gardens. Re: SOAKWELLS - How easy are they to put in and install ? 13Apr 04, 2010 3:52 am Fu Manchu 100mm should be fine. Most pipes are 90mm normally here in Perth. Byford is fine still I would just stick to the plan. If you lived in Brissie or Darwin, then yeah, you'd need more. You'll be fine with 90mm ag drain running into 100mm storm water pipe. Or just using the 90mm storm pipe into 100mm. Just as I said, separate the drain pipe from the ground. that way if it over flows it won't do it in your roof space Fu, how do you set up ag pipe ? do you just run it out underneath the ground or wrap in geofabric or put in a trench with gravel around it ? cheers Fu, Can you please revisit this topic, and advise us on how you would lay/install this ag pipe? We've been advised by our SS that we should start thinking about soakwells, and have the pipes at least installed before they do the paving so that its easier for us after handover. Thanks! Oceanic with Nautilus upgrades. Handover 8 September 2010 Re: SOAKWELLS - How easy are they to put in and install ? 14Apr 04, 2010 8:32 pm You can do both but for the most efficient means for rapid drainage is to dig a long trench and have a fall to it. Stick the bloody sock over it if you want. It should be minimum of 300mm deep. This is why it is best to do yourself. You'll pay a fortune to have it done only to discover that "the landscaper" (namely me) comes along and hits it just centimetres under the sand This happens often enough to say, do it yourself as tracking down soakwell mobs is not easy. Then I charge to do the job properly, which I would much rather not do Re: SOAKWELLS - How easy are they to put in and install ? 15Apr 04, 2010 10:32 pm Fu Manchu You can do both but for the most efficient means for rapid drainage is to dig a long trench and have a fall to it. Stick the bloody sock over it if you want. It should be minimum of 300mm deep. This is why it is best to do yourself. You'll pay a fortune to have it done only to discover that "the landscaper" (namely me) comes along and hits it just centimetres under the sand This happens often enough to say, do it yourself as tracking down soakwell mobs is not easy. Then I charge to do the job properly, which I would much rather not do Thanks. We googled it and found some info on an abc.net article too. My dad is insisting that we'll need soakwells as well.. do we need both, or do you think this ag pipe thingo will be enough? We're building in Cockburn Shire, plenty of sand and no clay or anything. Oceanic with Nautilus upgrades. Handover 8 September 2010 Re: SOAKWELLS - How easy are they to put in and install ? 16Apr 04, 2010 11:18 pm No only the ag drain. One agdrain will do more than a concrete soak well If you link all the ag drains as I have suggested in a few posts on this then the efficiency of the drainage is pretty good and will handle almost anything thrown at it. The reason being that not all your drain pipes will flow the same volume of water. So if they are all linked, the area for water to soak away is massive. Have the drain pipe empty into a grate then into the ag drain. If the ag drain or soakwell plumbing is directly connected to the drain pipe, your eves and even home can be flooded. Also sand can be forced up through paving from the soakwell. If the two are separated when the drainage fills water can still be drained from the roof and the water will flow out onto the paving. Even in the heavy rain we had in Perth the other day water drained away at a massive rate. Water pressure forms in heavy rain to cause this when the whole lot backs up. With homes connected to storm water the pipe needs to be directly connected to the stormwater. Re: SOAKWELLS - How easy are they to put in and install ? 18Apr 13, 2010 9:38 am hello only new to this, i work away and fly home today (tuesday) i live in canningvale W.A and would like to know a decent place that supply and deliver soakwells at short notice ( with in a week) i need bout 3 soakwells bout 1800mm and my land is sandy. i know when i put them into the ground i need the distance and depth from the house and all that, but i not sure what do i use and where to get material to place around the soakwell to stop the sand from seeping into it and filling up. I going to hire a 2.5 ton excavator or backhoe to dig and lift the soakwell into place. but unsure bout the sand seeping into the soakwell. i got bout a 320m2 house on 630m2 land . also is 3 time 1800 by 1800 soakwell efficent size enough for the house area, canningvale council fussy with making sure right amount but not say what it actually requires. I'm going to interlink them together to each other. going to use cememnt soakwells .with 90mm piping. sorry bout the hassales Re: SOAKWELLS - How easy are they to put in and install ? 19Apr 13, 2010 7:01 pm you really will be best to install the ag drains. Far more effective. By heaps! One length of ag drain will do more than a soak well. With the mini excavator it will be a piece of cake. http://www.globalsynthetics.com.au/prod ... inage.php# Don't directly connect the drain to the pipe into the soakwell. You'll thank me for that What is far better than an ag drain is these drainage tanks. these crap on a soakwell and ag drain! Easy as to install, they can be linked to as many as you like Cover them in a geotextile (some special cloth ) and they will rid more water than you can imagine. You will need a business owner to supply these for you from these guys. The are wholesale only. Give them a call and find out who sells them near you http://www.globalsynthetics.com.au/file ... llipse.pdf phone: (08) 9459 4300 Soakwell, crap Ag Drain, good drainage tanks, bloody fantastic. Soakwells, ag supply places, hardware and some retic shops Ag drain, from the link provided, hardware and farm/ ag supply places like Elders etc. Drainage tanks, fast and easier than any other option as well as stronger, from the number posted Re: SOAKWELLS - How easy are they to put in and install ? 20Jul 12, 2010 7:14 pm So with the ag-pipe installed that way... would it affect paving or liq limestone type isntall? Maybe this might be a good alternative for theose who have garage on the boarder and there's rwp that spills onto a section of the property that's the width of the garage column. Is it suitable for a small block? where there's only roughly 1400mm gap on either side and <3000mm gap at the back and 8000*6000 space at the front from wall to fence? DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair I mean, I install them/sell them for a living so I haven't done DIY, unless you count the first one I installed lol. (electrician by trade). Usually a 6-8 hour job for… 3 41719 That's a fantastic result! Happy you got it sorted out. cheers Simeon 6 8822 0 12159 |