Blocked soakaway

[Exfarmer]

Any ideas on blocked roof water soakaway, other than digging up and starting again?
we are on very free draining chalk so it was a surprise to look into the gulley to find it half full of water

 

[Dry Rot]

That reminds me.... Now, where did I leave the spade?

 

[Cjm]

Sometimes if the pipe from the house to the soak away is completely blocked you can jet it to blow the silt/leaves back uphill to clear it then you may get enough flow to keep it working

 

[nick...]

Probably leaves in it.get a spade out or get a digger to investigate
Nick...

 

[Ffermer Bach]

I have read on the advertising bumf that these pills to put in the septic tanks (some sort of bacteria) will clear soakaways too, no idea if they will, but may be worth a look into before getting out the spade

 

[br jones]

Full of leaves ,get you hand in first

 

[Exfarmer]

Thanks for replies, probably is leaves as it takes run off from a large patio. Next problem gulley is about 450 mm wide and 1.2 metres deep so getting down to investigate is not easy, sounds like synonymous rod is the answer, but believe they are not cheap

 

[Lazy Sod]

A lot of houses seem to have the downpipes going straight into the ground. The problem with that is that all the leaves etc from the gutters go straight into the soakaways. I know that you can get those basket things to go in the top of the downpipes, but when they block up you have to get your ladders out.

When I bought my current house, the downpipes went into the ground. Not liking the idea, I cut the downpipies off and created grids at ground level. If I notice that the grids have blocked, I can clear them instantly. Incidentally, my upwind neighbour has a very large ash tree and we get a lot of the seeds. Being flat, the seeds will go through the grids easily.

I found some 6" square stainless steel plates online, that are drilled with masses of 4mm holes, to replace the ordinary grids. These keep the ash seeds out.

 

[Highland Mule]

For roof guttering, I'd recommend the "hedgehog" type brush guards. Leaves tend to sit on top and the dry and blow away without getting trapped into the system.