Assessing the ground’s ability to naturally absorb and manage surface water runoff.

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The ground’s natural ability to drain surface water must be considered when a project requires a soakaway drainage system. Soakaway drainage is a system that alleviates the build up of surface water on-site by collecting and directing it to be dispersed into the ground naturally.

This method of water management is becoming a popular, forward-thinking approach to attenuating water and is often used in areas where the surface rainfall run-off cannot be disposed into existing sewers or watercourses.

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Soakage testing, sometimes referred to as percolation or infiltration testing, allows us to determine the rate at which the site ground absorbs water and establish whether the ground is suitable for a soakaway system.

The results of the testing are required by designers to size a system that is able to adequately store and release the water into the ground.

Soakage tests are usually carried out in a 2m deep trial pit that is filled with gravel to maintain the sidewall stability. The pit is filled with water and the rate the water level drops is recorded over three test runs. On sites where deeper soakaway drainage systems are required, or on a congested site, soakage testing would be carried out in a borehole.