Repairs: drainage

The drainage systems of many older properties are combined, that is, both the foul and surface water drainage is run to the same system.

Many of these systems are now running at capacity, and have little or no scope to tackle the additional rainwater collected as a result of, say, the new roof surface of a large extension to the building (and hence the area drained from the roof, patio, paths and so on).

Solution 1

Depending on the size of the building extension, you may be able to put a case to the local authority that there is no additional hard surfaced area being created – for example, where a patio is being removed and an extension put in its place.

However, if the extension is substantial with a large roof area to be drained, you should look at a soak away drainage system.

Note: If things are tight, consider rainwater butts or grey water recycling as a form of attenuation to shore up the water where ground conditions have insufficient percolation to discharge the water.