What is the difference between foul and storm drains

If the soakaway cannot cope with the inflow, it may need to be rebuilt, or a new soakaway may need to be constructed at a distance of at least 20m from the existing one. You may be a first time visitor or someone familiar with the old website which served well for odd years but a new decade needs a more responsive design and simpler navigation. There is still a lot of work to do with this new site, so please bear with me while I get images updated and the new content coralled into the right place.

If you spot any glaring errors or cock-ups, please let me know Identifying the System. Drainage - Foul or Storm? Let us help you find a tradesman local to you. In older houses the surface water is often fed into the foul water system.

Foul water is never allowed to be fed into a surface water system. All underground pipes must be brown in colour to distinguish them from any other underground service pipes. This trap is designed to hold water in the bend of the P or S. Under some basins and showers special traps are placed which do not have these shapes but their internal workings are designed to fulfil the same objective.

This objective is to stop foul gasses from the drain runs and manholes, entering the room. The water sitting in the U of the trap stops this. As you can see from the diagram, when the loo is flushed, water and waste enters the bowl and is forced round the bend into the pipe which carries it through the wall of the property at some point, to the main sewer.

This pipe is called a soil and vent pipe. It also carries the foul gasses up to and beyond the roof. All traps work in this way. Once the waste has left the property it is directed to an inspection chamber where more pipes may join. These pipes can come from other outlets in your home, or from other houses in your area. Inspection chambers are placed wherever two or more pipes join, or a single pipe changes direction. This is because these scenarios are the most likely to cause a blockage.

An access chamber or manhole will allow access to a blockage. See our project on Unblocking Drains. What an interesting and well documented article. Concepts and examples are clearly explained, and presented in an orderly way, easy to understand.

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Garden Hose Method Try running a hose down a downpipe to check for surface water drains. Traceable Dye If you are really struggling to identify which system you have you can purchase a drain-tracing dye which will not contaminate the water, but will help you to identify the flow of water in your drains.

If you have a combined system, the dyed test water show up in the chamber from both foul and surface sources. If you have opened a surface only drain, the dyed test water will only show up when the dye is added to a surface drainage point. If you have opened a foul only drain, the dyed test water will show up if you flush the toilet when dye has been added to the pan or cistern. Existing Soakaways If you have an existing soakaway that is not working properly or not able to cope with the amount of water you want to add to it then you should build a new soakaway.

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