The National Planning Policy Guidance requires anyone applying for planning permission to consider where their rainwater will go, with soakaways being the preferred option if they will work.
If your development is going to use soakaways to dispose of rainwater, or the treated water from a septic tank or sewage treatment plant, you will need to carry out infiltration tests to be able to size these correctly, or to justify using an alternative by proving they will not work.
There are two common standards for infiltration testing:
-For surface water soakaways, BRE 365 is the standard required by just about every planning and building control authority.
-For treated foul water drainage fields, the test methodology is set out in Building Regulations Part H.
We always plan our site investigation to meet both standards at the same time, reducing both cost and time and allowing us to give you all the options for your development. We can carry out infiltration testing on its own, or as part of producing the drainage design for your development; so please contact us
to discuss your requirements.