Garden boggy near soakaway

Many of us like to spend time in our gardens in the spring and summer, with the more green-fingered among us tending to our lovingly cared-for lawns and flower beds. And with the weather finally improving, many more of us will be out there enjoying the blue skies and sound of tweeting birds. The only downside to spending more time outside? That moment when you notice that there might be a problem with your septic tank or other off mains drainage system.

Have you noticed that your garden is boggy near your soakaway? Properties that have a septic tank or sewage treatment plant may also have a soakaway system or drainage field, which is typically a network of perforated or slotted pipes that the wastewater from the tank passes into. The soakaway allows the wastewater to pass safely into the ground, without causing pollution. Well, at least that’s what a soakaway or drainage field should do when it’s working properly.

What kind of things can cause a soakaway to stop working and the garden to become boggy?

The first cause is something which affects us all at some point, because soakaways can start to fail with age. Now, there’s no finite amount of time a soakaway can last – the team at the UK Drainage Professionals have seen many hundreds of soakaways which have provided their owners with numerous decades of trouble-free use. However, others are not so fortunate.

There are some things which can have a negative effect on a soakaway, and cause it to fail earlier than it should – such as not properly maintaining the system by regular emptying (and servicing if the tank is a sewage treatment plant), or a change in the ground conditions. But there are other factors which can cause your garden to be boggy near your soakaway, and some of these things might be covered by your existing buildings insurance. The good news is that the team here at the UK Drainage Professionals are experts in two things – off mains drainage and insurance policy cover! So, you are in the right place.

The kind of things which could cause a garden to be boggy above a soakaway, which would likely be covered by your insurance, include damage to the tank which has meant that solid particles of waste have been allowed into the soakaway, which is only designed to take wastewater. This quickly clogs the soakaway pipework and causes the waste to pool above ground, because it is no longer able to pass into the sub soils around the soakaway. Damage to the soakaway itself from things such as above-ground vehicle damage or tree root damage can also cause it to stop working and for the ground above to become boggy.

What should you do if you notice your garden is boggy above your soakaway?

First things first, if you notice a boggy patch above a soakaway, it’s best to take action as soon as possible to prevent things from getting worse. Left unchecked, soakaway problems can really escalate, and in the worst case scenario it can even lead to a complete failure of the entire drainage system. But ultimately, if the garden is boggy above your soakaway, it's wastewater from your drainage system making its way to the surface.....so that will likely be motivation enough to act!

If your tank is due to be emptied soon, ask the emptying company to look and see if they can notice any problems with the tank, or give you any clues as to what might be happening. Also, get in contact with the UK Drainage Professionals team today so we can talk about how we can help get things back to normal for you as soon as possible. We may be able to send one of our friendly engineers out at the same time as the tank is being emptied, and they can carry out a thorough septic tank inspection to find out exactly what’s going on.

Did you know?

If the system is damaged, the costs of repairing or replacing the damaged septic tank and soakaway may be covered by your existing buildings insurance. The team at UK Drainage Professionals are experts both in buildings insurance policy cover, and septic tank problems - so we can manage everything for you from start to finish. So, if you notice a problem, don’t panic, the UKDP team are here to help!