Soak Pit

[investorak]

Looking at a property

It has a soak pit displayed in an old plan. Would this still be used or is it an old thing and it would it be going to the sewer line now?

Having a soak pit, is this anything to be concerned about?

The soak pit is 2m from a property

[cube]

In my experience, likely to still be used.

If you're lucky it is still full of gravel and doing a good job of being a soak pit.

If you're unlucky, its a big hole waiting for a house to fall in to it.

Without digging in to it, hard to tell!

[investorak]

Are soak hole/pit only used for water from spouting?

On the plan it looks like its only used from the water from the down pipe and water from bathroom/kitchen is going into council sewer. Why wouldnt it just all go to the council sewer?

[John the builder]

It is stormwater and must not ne directed to council wasterwater sewer. If you have a stormwater connection available or you can pipe to road then all good, but the soak pit usually indicates that no stormwater connection is available. If ground appears relatively dry after rain then it must be working but they can silt up over time depending on soil types etc

[investorak]

How far away from the property should it be?

Im worried that the water will go into the ground which is 2M from the property and affect the foundations etc. Is this likely?

[Davo36]

How far away from the property should it be?

Im worried that the water will go into the ground which is 2M from the property and affect the foundations etc. Is this likely?

All depends on the ground type. So, for instance in Mt Eden in Auckland, I've heard people say most of the houses just put their stormwater into the ground, because it's all scoria/volcanic stuff under there and so it just goes down and down and never causes a problem.

[Bob Kane]

How far away from the property should it be?

Im worried that the water will go into the ground which is 2M from the property and affect the foundations etc. Is this likely?

That's quite normal and doesn't cause a problem.

[Wayne]

How far away from the property should it be?

Im worried that the water will go into the ground which is 2M from the property and affect the foundations etc. Is this likely?

How old is this place?
If really old then it has stood the test of time.
If new then it will be designed that way so will be OK.
It's not like you have a river down there washing the house away - not how they work really.