Any idea where rain water from roof normally end-up.. (1950's built house)?

sujsuj

Mine is a 1950's detached remote house close to farm lands without any public sewage connections, I saw these rain water pipes  from roof around my house ending in bricked exits. I had some bad smell from one of these recently and decided to clean it up. (bad smell was due to dead rat in the water!) in this process I pumped water in and ensured  its not blocked. I opened manholes to see if this water is ending up in the septic tank, but it is not.. Where this water ends up..? Keen to understand this  and if possible to access that tank/soak/pit to do any maintenance work..?

The pipe connection from this small bricked area got a trap mechanism similar to the toilet bowls I think. Water will not be completely drained but it flow out when more water added.

Please help if anyone know where what I should look to find the pit or tank for this rain water. Thanks

Bookworm105

it is going to a soakaway.
They are normally inaccessible constructions since they are buried underground and not intended to ever be opened up again

.5.3.11 Surface water soakaways - NHBC Standards 2024 NHBC Standards 2024 (nhbc-standards.co.uk)

ThisIsWeird

How many of these do you have, SS?
What is the lay of the land around your house?
Usually the drain pipes from these gulleys would be laid in an 'obvious' way, heading in a straight line to a patch of land around 5m or so away, to where there is accessible ground where a soakaway could easily have been dug.
So, if you, say, have a lawn on that side, then chances are it'll be in a straightish line to there. If there are two downpipes and gulleys on that side, then I'm not sure if they'd have SAs each, or would share one, the latter probably suggesting it would be positioned equally between them, so the two pipes would triangulate towards it.
They would usually avoid being near walls and founds, for example, so if you have a boundary wall or brick outbuildings, I doubt they'd be too close to that.
All guesswork! But if you stand at each gully and look away from your house, ask yourself what would be a 'sensible' place to put one.
Failing that, try dowsing, even tho' it cannot possible work...

Rodders53

The gullies are water traps to avoid smells coming back and also (perhaps mainly) to prevent heavy debris from getting to the soakaway pit / perforated pipework.

Occasional but regular, clearing of the sediment is advisable, I believe, to avoid blockages happening.

Consider fitting a gully grate to prevent stuff like leaves getting blown in and adding to the detritus in the trap. Example here https://www.screwfix.com/p/floplast-gulley-grid-black-150mm-x-150mm/16499

Highway gullies get regularly 'hoovered' out to keep the water flowing.

Brie

We had a drain that looked similar that got blocked due to stones that the previous owner put around it being kicked into the opening.  Problem was solved by putting a grating over the opening.  This would stop your rats falling in and drowning as well.  

FreeBear

Rodders53 said:

The gullies are water traps to avoid smells coming back and also (perhaps mainly) to prevent heavy debris from getting to the soakaway pit / perforated pipework.

Occasional but regular, clearing of the sediment is advisable, I believe, to avoid blockages happening.

Consider fitting a gully grate to prevent stuff like leaves getting blown in and adding to the detritus in the trap. Example here https://www.screwfix.com/p/floplast-gulley-grid-black-150mm-x-150mm/16499

Highway gullies get regularly 'hoovered' out to keep the water flowing.

I'm a big fan of these -> https://www.screwfix.com/p/floplast-push-fit-debris-gully-110mm/25121 (dang, price has gone up since I last bought one). Works best if you are reworking the area as they are not a drop in replacement for square/round gullies.

As for soakaways - I have one about 3m from the house and straddles the boundary. Certainly not compliant with current Building Regulation recommendations.. But being a brick lined chamber, it is unlikely to ever get filled with muck.

twopenny

There's an area of damp around the back of the pipe.

Do you know where that comes from?

And clay soil surrounding. That's gluey if it gets in.

But I would expect it to be just maintenance, a bit of a poke around to see if anything comes up, run water from a hose at full speed to see if it flushes anything out.

If any of that works then you have an inckling of what is causing it.