Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Jul 26, 2011 1:39 pm Hi All, I am struggling with where to place my soakwells and was wondering if i could have some help. I possibly should have thought of these a little bit earlier but hopefully its not too late and I can figure something out. My first problem is everyone says you need to be atleast 1.5m from the edge of the slab. I only have approximately 1.5 metres down both sides of my house. My original thoughts were to then run any side downpipes to the front or rear of the house and just have all the soakwells either at the front or rear. This seemed like a good plan till i thought about it a bit more. Now looking the rear of the house it goes from a gap of 2.8m to 3.2 metres off the fence, But the problem is there is also a retaining wall running the whole length of my block, I am on the high side if that makes any difference. Now my first question is how far away from the retaining wall do i have to be?? I am looking at using the Poly Drainage tanks so if i place the 2 or 3 tanks down the wider area of the rear approximately 1.3m from both the slab and the retaining wall will this be alright? My next question would it be alright if i ran Ag Pipe down along the fence line, Approximately 1.5m from the house slab? And final question is, Is it alright to place a tank near the edge of paving that may or may not be added to in the future? I will hopefully be digging the soakwells in before the first part of the paving is done. Any comments / Help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Andrew Re: Soakwell Help 3Jul 26, 2011 9:02 pm I trust you mean ones like these. http://www.globalsynthetics.com.au/file ... rotank.pdf As far as space goes, well look at it this way, you will have to the best you can with what you have got. So along the fence line, use the ag pipe. Or in narrow areas. It will be highly efficient at getting water out into the soil. Especially where space is a concern. Join down pipes or interconnect down pipes and soak wells where ever possible. It might be extra digging but the pipe is cheap and it will ensure the set up works with more frequent severe weather events. If your on the highside, there won't be a hassle going close to the limestone wall. Run the pipe so you can put the tanks somewhere more convenient. If you are using the poly tanks in my link you can put them under driveways if you want. Not even a Hummer would squash them. With that in mind a footpath will be more than ok. Make sure they are at least 30cm deep but deeper is highly recommended. Before doing the foot path, drop some left over storm water pipe in and duct tape the ends. Then you can run pipe or cable through for future retic or lighting. Re: Soakwell Help 4Jul 27, 2011 12:40 pm Hi Fu, Thanks alot for answering all my question. There is probably one last question you can answer for me I am looking at using the tanks by Soakwell Solutions, If i join these tanks end to end (assuming this is possible) will the be efficient enough still to use one per downpipe, or would you look at adding an extra tank due to the fact one side is no longer exposed to the ground? Thanks again Re: Soakwell Help 5Jul 27, 2011 1:44 pm Landfish Hi Fu, Thanks alot for answering all my question. There is probably one last question you can answer for me I am looking at using the tanks by Soakwell Solutions, If i join these tanks end to end (assuming this is possible) will the be efficient enough still to use one per downpipe, or would you look at adding an extra tank due to the fact one side is no longer exposed to the ground? Thanks again Hey Landfish, The tanks from Soakwell Solutions have one opening from the top. You are best not to put tanks side by side. If you want to supply two tanks to one downpipe, the best method is to run the pipe (coming from downpipe) and splitting it into 2 (using a Tee) then one pipe going right and another going left to connect to each soakwell. Maybe allow a meter between each soakwell so that it each module retains its efficiency in all sides exposed. Re: Soakwell Help 6Jul 27, 2011 5:54 pm Hey Wrexter, What I am trying to acheive is just to place all my tanks out the front together. What i was planning on doing was placing 3 tanks together in a line, then have one pipe running to each tank. This way i figure it will help with the different flows from each downpipe also. This is mainly due to limited space so unfortunately i don't really have the choice, as i only have a small block but quite a big house for the size of the block. I contacted soakwell solutions and they have said they are fine to just place next to each other, obviously the drainage wont be as great but got to work with what i have. My other question I now have, now I am drawing my plan up is I have two down pipes on one side i am going to run to the front of the house, am i able to run just one 90mm pvc with a T to join the second downpipe into it then run this pipe into another tee and then into two tanks to so there is enough to get rid of the water. My question is will the 90mm pipe be able to handle the flow from both the down pipes or should i just not try save the 20metre or so(by the time i run both sides) of pipe and run 2 pipes? Who knew you could learn sooo much about a soakwell in couple of days. Thanks for your help. Re: Soakwell Help 7Jul 29, 2011 12:46 am The drainage will be fine but make sure you have several. I'd be looking to use ag pipe leading to the soak well rather than 90mm storm water pipe. It will handle it. Takes up the same space and allows additional drainage along the way. With our sands, gravel won't be needed around it. Just use the sock that covers the ag pipe. It'll be fine. Also not all down pipes flow the same amount of water.. My place is linked up almost the whole way round with both 90mm storm pipe and ag pipe. It can handle what comes off the roof and drain a flash flood in the garden in minutes after the rain stops. There is two I didn't connect and they are the only ones I have problems with. Those problems being they overflow onto the pavers. One corner of my shed slab will be directly over a 1400mm diameter concrete soakwell. Is it feasible to fill the soakwell with concrete then lay the shed slab over the… 0 656 Hi there, long-time lurker but first time posting. I've bought a house 2 and a bit years ago and last year we had some major water damage on a converted pergola area… 0 7931 Yes, unless you are in a low intensity rainfall area or the area is protected from rain. Do you have access to NCC Part 2 or can you download it? I can email you a copy… 10 12511 |