Gutters.

[Graham Harrison]

Or perhaps more accurately, a down pipe.

One of our gutters drains into a soakaway which is hidden beneath paving slabs. The pipe itself is held in concrete at the base (and thus rather immovable). Some years ago I installed a diverter to feed a water butt and it worked well for about 10-12 years.

Last winter, a rainstorm had the gutter overflowing and investigation showed that the section of pipe between the diverter and the soakaway had become full of silt. Poking around with a bamboo seemed to resolve the problem. This summer it's happened again except this time it's the diverter and the upper section of pipe that has become silted.

"Silt" - it's not organic matter as far as I can tell. I *think* it's probably being washed off the roof tiles. It's a fine sand like substance.

Short of digging up the paving stones and digging out the soakaway I've been considering alternatives. Ideally, I want to divert the flow away from the house onto a patch of earth that drains well but only when necessary. I can find a down pipe (e.g.

allows two flows to merge into one but not one that would split the flow in two.

I also found a "Leaf and debris Gully" but I don't believe it would trap the silt.

So far, I'm thinking in terms of placing a short piece of guttering under the end (and at 90 degrees) of the existing gutter. One end would feed the existing down pipe. The other would cross to an existing wooden stanchion and then go down to ground leave to discharge. But, I can see two problems - 1) if the flow is high enough water could overflow the sides of the new gutter at the point where it drops out of the existing gutter 2) arranging the slope of the new gutter so that the two ends can both be fed.

I thank, in the end, digging out the existing soakaway is probably required unless someone has a better idea?

[Radio Man]

You could try a pressure washer. You tend to find blockages occur where the flow slows / changes direction. If you can blast the blockage away, it may be ok.

[Graeme]

In message [e-mail], Graham Harrison [e-mail] writes

Agreed. No help to you given that your pipe is set in concrete, but I had exactly the same problem, in that drains overflowed. Long story short, I eventually cleared the blockage in the drain by laying down and extending my arm into the drain and removing quite a lot of silt with a smallish plastic pudding basin. I think there is a U bend or trap down there, and was completely blocked. Removal of all the silt cleared it. Not a pleasant job, but given that it is not sewage, not too bad.

That was after I had cleared the downpipes which were blocked with organic matter, presumably washed from roof to gutter to downpipe. Quite fun as the whole length of the pipe was full of water, except the last 2 or 3 feet which formed a blockage. Much poking and hooking with a bent wire coat hanger resulted in the blockage suddenly coming out like a guided missile, followed by gallons of water. Filthy, but satisfying. The organic part did stink though!

[Andrew]

Does your house have concrete roof tiles, like Marley Modern and similar ?. After about 40 years these seem to start losing their surface which gets blown off the roof and into gutters as gritty sand mixed with moss.

It could also be sand from degrading weak sand/cement mortar used to hold ridge tiles in place.

Soakaways should be 5 metres away from external walls, but with houses built in the 70's they could be anywhere.

You could consider hiring a decent disk cutter and making a channel in the patio into which you insert a lngth of drainage channel with a grill on top. Some of these have a sludge trap which will stop your soakaway ending up full of what is washed off the roof. You'd be surprised how much dust comes down from the air over time and it all has to go somewhere (which is why Roman remains are generally buried undergound).

[tabbypurr]

I once read that 1 in 6 dust particles reign down from outer space. So maybe your silt is a multiplying alien colony!

NT

[Graeme]

In message [e-mail], [e-mail] writes

New arrivals from Venus?

Probably not wearing tiny blue jeans though

[Dave Liquorice]

Really need to attack blockages from the outflow of the pipe so the route out is clear for the stuff you dislodge. Admitedly this doesn't sound possible for the OP.

[Dave Liquorice]

Have to do that fairly regulary here. Birch leaves mainly with the occasional drowned mouse. Don't bother with gloves or a pudding basin, just havea good wash afterwards and if any of the inevitable scratches go really pink around the edges whop on some antiseptic cream. B-)

BTDTGTTS. Something you only do once. I'm now aware and try and let things go in a more controlled manner rather than a 68 mm dia jet of water and anerobic rotting leaves.