Did you know, SGL offer comprehensive field services relating to Soakaway Testing?
Drainage design is often a principal consideration for any development. Historically, surface waters were typically directed to drains, and these ended up in the main sewer.
Today, we see more developments designing drainage sustainably. To reduce the pressures on the main drains and to limit flooding, sustainable drainage may be the answer.
Building Control or via planning, may request that a developer considers the use of sustainable drainage to manage surface waters. A developer has various options, and one of these is to consider infiltration-type drainage. This is where the ground is capable of accommodating and storing surface waters.
A developer may need to consider infiltration tests. This is typically referred to as soakway testing.
As part of wider site investigation work, SGL are routinely asked to complete a series of soakaway tests. The process involve following the technical guidance presented within BRE365.
SGL will excavate the ground, and fill the excavation with clean water to a hypothetical invert level. Water in the excavation is therefore simulating how the ground will react during a storm event. If the ground can rapidly discharge the water, this is good news! Such a test would suggest that the ground beneath a site is suitable for the use of infiltration-type drainage, such as soakways.
SGL conduct the field tests and prepare technical reports with soil infiltration rates (permeability coefficients). This information is critical to the design of such drainage features.