Cleaning out a drain or soakaway

d0nkeyk0ng

We have a drain/soakaway in the driveway. No idea which it is but it was full to the brim with mud and crud. I cleaned out what I could using my hands and a garden tool. I can't quite clear out the bottom half inch of crud. There's also a channel leading off somewhere and this feels blocked too.

How do I clean it all?

When I first lifted the drain cover, there was a spanner attached to it. What's it for?

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EssexExile

Is it a plastic cover? If so the spanner is to give it a bit of weight to hold it in place. Does the water run away now you've cleared what you can? If not there must be a blockage further along, could be roots, any trees nearby?

jblessing

Not sure about the spanner. Modern soakaways use big plastic crates wrapped in permeable membrane and are pretty good for not getting blocked up. Old ones were basically just a hole in the ground filled with rubble and eventually get clogged and there is nothing you can do.

You can only hope it is a modern one, in which case buy a set of drain rods (not expensive) and see if you can clear the blockage in the pipe leading to the crate

david39

If it is a drain, another way to approach it that involves little or no expense:

Connect up a hose pipe to feed water from a mains tap into the drain and let the end of it rest on the sludge. Then get come old cloths and fully soak them in water and cram them into the drain so that it is full of cloth up to the top. Stand on the cloths to make the best airtight seal you can above the level of the sludge.

Then turn the water tap on fully.

Hopefully there will be enough water pressure to push the blockage along the drainage pipe until it clears.

Best done in wellies otherwise water might spurt up your trouser leg!

nickcc

We have four soakaways for our surface water and all overflow during heavyish rain. These soakaways take the rainwater off the roof of the house and over the years all the crud eventually reduces the effectiveness of the soakaways. We are fortunate as our house is built on a slope away from the public highway so all this overflow ends up watering our lawn and flower beds. If the blocked soakaways allowed the surface water to discharge into the road drains our local water company could charge for surface water discharge.

d0nkeyk0ng

I washed the car and there's still a huge puddle an hour later so definitely still blocked.

Frustratingly I have a pressure washer that cam with a drain cleaning kit. Except the pressure washer has broken down and I don't have the £££ to buy the replacement one I'd like.

nickcc

d0nkeyk0ng wrote: »

I washed the car and there's still a huge puddle an hour later so definitely still blocked.

Frustratingly I have a pressure washer that cam with a drain cleaning kit. Except the pressure washer has broken down and I don't have the £££ to buy the replacement one I'd like.

You'll probably find that the soakaway is full of sediment and no amount of cleaning out the inlet pipe is going to help. I'm sorry to sound so negative but having the same problem myself gives me little hope for you.

The answer will probably be to find where the soakaway is located and replace all the drainage material but, if like me, this means digging up your Tarmac drive or paved patio then I would suggest living with it.