Water collection on rear porch ????

rosstar1

Hi all!

Just after some advice from you, currently got a 12ft by 5ft rear porch which I am having the current wooden frame swapped for upvc, currently there is guttering on the porch but the water just soaks a couple of metres away in the garden eg no downpipe/drain etc.

I don't think this is ideal, I was told by a couple of builders that thy suggested that the same happens when I have the new upvc frame put up, eg the water is just soaked away into the garden, due to the little amount of water that it would actually collect.

What's your thoughts?

There is no downpipe/drain available as it is on next doors property, my idea was to have the porch downpipe feeding into a water butt to collect.

What size do I need I don't mind emptying regularly 100 litre/200 litre ??

Please all advice is appreciated

System

has it caused any problems before?
ground soakaways are fairly common for rainwater, usually the pipe is run into a pit of gravel for storm protection

ListysDad

A soak-away is a legitimate form of water control. Theres no reason why you can't fit a butt in the system too, but when it overflows it will have to go somewhere and a soak-away is as good a solution as any - provided of course it's correctly implemented.

If you then choose to spend loads formally piping it away that's your prerogative and also a legitimate solution.

rosstar1

Thanks guys for you replies, I forgot to add that the area where it soaked away into was only around 2 1/2 metre away from the house, where I have read that a soak away should be at least 4 metres away, hence the reason of considering getting a downpipe into the water butt.

ListysDad

Simple fact is that you'll never keep up with emptying it despite your best intentions. A butt is a good idea but you'll still have to rid yourself of the excess especially with the 'close to tropical' storms we now have as the norm. If it were mine I'd simply make sure the soak away was appropriate