Surface Water Drainage Statement

“Lintels”
Bilsham Road
Yapton
BN18 0JB
Planning Reference Number: Y/127/22/PL

PROPOSED WORKS

Change of use of existing garage to 1 No 3 bed dwelling, separate to the main dwelling,
including side extension.

PLANNING CONDITION

#5 -- Development shall not commence, other than works of site survey and investigation,
until full details of the proposed surface water drainage scheme have been submitted to and
approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The design should follow the hierarchy
of preference for different types of surface water drainage disposal systems as set out in
Approved Document H of the Building Regulations, and the recommendations of the SuDS
Manual produced by CIRIA. Design considerations must take full account of the
'Supplementary Requirements for Surface Water Drainage Proposals' produced by Arun
District Council, and are an overriding factor in terms of requirements. Winter groundwater
monitoring to establish highest annual ground water levels and winter percolation testing to
BRE 365, or similar approved, will be required to support the design of any infiltration
drainage. No building / No part of the extended building shall be occupied until the complete
surface water drainage system serving the property has been implemented in accordance
with the agreed details and the details so agreed shall be maintained in good working order
in perpetuity.

Reason: To ensure that the proposed development is satisfactorily drained in accordance

with policies W SP1, W DM1, W DM2 and W DM3 of the Arun Local Plan. This is required to
be a pre-commencement condition because it is necessary to implement the surface water
drainage system prior to commencing any building works.

GEOLOGY

The geology as detailed by the British Geological Survey (BGS) is superficial deposits of
River Terrace Deposits – Sand, Silt and Clay overlying Bedrock of the Lewes Nodular Chalk
Formation et seq.

The site does not lie in an area designated by any Classification as Source Protection Zones
or Drinking Water Protected Areas / Safeguard Zones.
GROUNDWATER MONITORING

A groundwater monitoring exercise was carried out within the winter period of 2022-2023.

The monitoring system is in the form of an installation of 1 Open Head Piezometer – slotted
monitoring pipe – at the location adjacent to the proposed infiltrating structure – and was
augered, to a depth of 1830mm below ground level (BGL), to encounter any groundwater on
installation. This was at 4.792 metres AOD.

Monitoring was weekly and commenced in mid January 2023 and was due to finish at the
end of February 2023, consistent within the design for a surface water disposal strategy,
however the highest rainfalls occurred typically in November 2022, with January 2023 being
close to these rainfall levels. Since February 2023 was a particularly dry month, it seemed
prudent to extend monitoring until the end of March 2023 to capture any additional high
groundwater levels.

The peak groundwater level was recorded at 1050mm BGL at 5.570 AOD, as the stable rest
level in the open borehole, prior to the installation of the monitoring pipe, on Tuesday 17th
January 2023. The second highest level was recorded on Monday 13th March 2023 at
1568mm BGL at 5.052 AOD.

Peak groundwater levels from 2 local sites monitored in previous years do not imply any
significant possible increases in these highest recorded levels. Even with missing the
maximum rainfall in November 2022, expecting to produce higher groundwater levels than
those recorded at this location, it is considered that it will not preclude the implementation of
on-site infiltration as a method of Surface Water Disposal.
SOIL INFILTRATION TESTING

There is the requirement of Arun District Council for full Soil Infiltration testing to be carried
out since the site lies within the ‘Lidsey Catchment Area’.
Infiltration rates of substrata can vary significantly and can be very site specific and as a
consequence require site specific Soil Infiltration (Percolation) Testing so Infiltration Systems
need to be fully investigated.

Any design has to be based, on this Percolation Testing, in the winter period of January 2023
/ early March 2023, to BRE365 principles at the location and approximate depth of the
proposed infiltrating structure, within a Trial Pit, of minimum size 1000mm long x 300mm
wide x DEPTH and 3 tests in quick succession will be required. The DEPTH of this Trial Pit
will be determined by the highest recorded groundwater at the location of it’s respective
testing ie the Groundwater Monitoring Point.

Should an open volume soakaway type of Geo-cellular be unsatisfactory due to high levels
of groundwater recorded during the Groundwater Monitoring exercise, then shallow blanket
infiltration structures of type Permeable Paving will need to be utilised.

Any SuDS and source control solutions for a surface water disposal strategy, should follow
the hierarchy of preference for different types of surface water drainage disposal systems as
set out in Approved Document H of the Building Regulations, and the recommendations of
the Sustainable Drainage System (SuDs) Manual produced by CIRIA.

a) Discharge into the ground ie Infiltration

b) Controlled discharge to a surface water body eg ditch.
c) Controlled discharge to a Surface Water Sewer.

In general, option a) above is always the preferred solution and options b) and c) above are
only to be considered after rigorous groundwater monitoring and soil infiltration testing has
discounted option a) as unviable.

Should any soakaway type, for whatever reason, be unviable due to extremely low rates of
soil infiltration or the presence of extremely high groundwater levels, then the course of
action will be to follow the hierarchy of preference for sustainable systems as above, detailed
by options b) and c).

The proposed Percolation Testing is to be carried out during the winter period within a single
Trial Pit excavated in the location of the front entrance driveway parking area of the existing
building and the proposed new extension.
The depth of Trial Pit excavation needs to be above the highest recorded groundwater level
prior to testing.

In this instance all formal drainage has been designed to drain to an infiltration system of a
‘Permeable Paving’ structure.

This is a result of the investigations and site surveys.

As discussed, should testing produce a non-viable minimum result for the Soil Infiltration
Rate which would preclude infiltration techniques being utilised, then following the hierarchy
of options b) & c), listed above, becomes the course of action. In this instance there are no
Public Surface Water Sewers in the area, and there are no ‘Surface Water Bodies’ available.
It should be noted that in this eventuality, the only course of action would be to seek approval
from WSCC to discharge into the highway system where the discharge should be
attenuated.
Infiltration testing was carried out within the Arun DC prescribed winter period, on 3
consecutive days at the beginning of February 2023, with a Trial Pit, to BRE365 principles,
on Wednesday 1st February to Friday 3rd February, The Trial Pit was sized at 1100m long by
400mm wide by 525mm deep. The depth was determined by the type of infiltration system
being proposed and was above the peak recorded groundwater levels.

Three tests were carried out with the calculated results as follows :-

Test #1 (on Wednesday 1st February) - Infiltration Rate at 1.208 E-05 metres / second.
Test #2 (on Thursday 2nd February) - Infiltration Rate at 8.430 E-06 metres / second.
Test #3 (on Friday 3rd February) - Infiltration Rate at 1.122 E-05 metres / second.

The lowest rate used in the calculations was 8.430 E-06 metres / second. In this instance,
where only roof water is to be accounted for, the value of the volumetric runoff coefficient,
Cv=1.0, produces a Factor of Safety of 1.5 to be used in the calculations, and to be in
accordance with CIRIA guidelines.
INVESTIGATIONS

Existing “Lintels property

The building has had separate extensions added historically to the original main building and
as such has had the underground drainage runs adapted to meet the changes, whilst
conforming to the Building Regulations which were in force at their times.
The rainwater pipe designations are those that are detailed on the Drainage Layout Drawing.

RWP#1 discharges into an adjacent open gully which flows into the Foul Drain and then into
the adjacent property and finally into the public foul sewer. There is no way that this flow can
be removed and accounted for elsewhere.

RWP#2 does not drain into the foul but investigations were difficult to prove since the pipe
drops into and under the concrete rear patio. It seem likely that this drains into a soakaway in
the rear garden area. It does not however, drain into the rear soakaway for the garage, which
is to be abandoned, since the latter was installed at a much later date.

RWP#3 for the very small lean-to extension, drains into a small stone filled basin which looks
in approximately line with RWP#4, so it is assumed that this also drains to the rear soakaway
as per RWP#2.

RWP#4 could not be similarly investigated since it drops into concrete and under the
concreted-in paviors. This was an original rainwater pipe from the original un-extended
house. It is likely that it drains into a rear soakaway as per RWP#2.

RWP#5 was able to be traced and this flows towards an assumed soakaway under the
existing concrete pavior hard-standing and entrance driveway at the north of “Lintels”.

RWP#6 similarly flows in the same direction as RWP#5 and it is assumed that they join up
under the hard-standing at, or close to, the soakaway location.

There is a channel drain across the entrance to the hard-standing and parking area which
intercepts any surface flow towards the highway verge. This discharges into a small
soakaway in the north east corner of the existing “Lintels” plot under a large planter flower
bed.

It is shown that any flows from the front of “Lintels” will not influence the proposed Permeable
Paving Structure, and any flows from the rear of “Lintels” to the assumed soakaway will not
compromise the 5 metre easement to the proposed extension.
The Planning Application Site

All the roof water from the existing double garage drains to a single soakaway at the rear of
the garage raised garden area.

This soakaway is of unknown construction, size and depth.

Anecdotally it is known to be 1 square metre in area with a depth of 2 metres and of rubble
filled construction.

It’s location is anecdotally approximated but is at least 5 metres from the corner of the
garage to meet Building Regulations in force at the time of the construction of it and the
garage, and is also over 5 metres from “Lintels” itself. It is also within the 2½ metre
easement to the western boundary and closer than 5 metres to a ‘building type’, as shown in
the satellite views, in the rear garden of an adjacent property. This building turned out to be a
large shed of wooden construction sitting on concrete fence post bearers.

No further investigations were carried out as it was concluded that this existing soakaway
would have to be abandoned. It could not be used ‘as existing’ for the roof of the garage as it
would encroach into the 5 metre easement of the proposed extension to the garage. It could
not be relocated to meet this easement as this would put it’s new location into the rear
garden area of “Lintels” and more importantly it would have to meet current design
specifications of Climate Change etc. and would not meet, even with a relaxed, Best Practice
distancing to the western boundary.

All of the current ground area within the Planning Red Line is of impermeable concrete
surface and falls towards the existing double gated entrance. This ultimately drains across
the pavement and into the highway roadside gully.

The Drainage Proposals

All of the front concrete areas, up to the proposed extension are to be replaced with
permeable paving draining fully within the curtilage of the proposal. The side path and rear of
the building are to be returned to permeable soft landscaping. The only small area of the
front concrete remaining in the south eastern corner is also to be returned to permeable soft
landscaping. It is noted that this area is where the services will enter the plot and to the
building.

The existing garage roof area and the roof area of the extension will drain towards the front
entrance and driveway parking area through a single silt trap. Thus this front permeable
paving area will drain all of itself plus all the impermeable roof areas.
As a consequence of the existing surface fall towards the road, the permeable paving is
proposed to be split into 4 contiguous areas.

Perm-1 (adjacent to the extension as its new garage) will be self-draining only and have an
impermeable membrane between itself and the adjacent area Perm-2.

Perm-2 (fronting the existing garage) will drain into the adjacent main storage section Perm-3
and has had its own area included within the calculations for the storage section Perm-3. It
should be noted however this is actually also self-draining and will provide a benefit to the
situation. It is hydraulically connected to the storage section Perm-3.

Perm-3 (within most of the existing front entrance driveway and parking area) is the principal
draining section and provides storage for all the roof (existing and proposed) areas, the
drained area Perm-2 as well as itself. It has a level sub-base of heavy duty geocells, which,
when clipped together as per manufactures specifications, will provide a consistent storage
void volume. The point of infiltration for the roof areas from the silt trap will enter at it’s north
eastern corner with a suitably equivalent Diffusion Unit. This Diffusion Unit will meet the
easement to both “Lintels”, the new planning proposal and the highway roadside kerb. It
does however fail to meet the Best Practice easement of 2½ distance to any boundary but
this is not significant since no possible compromising infiltration structures exist within the
front garden of “Lintels”, or the highway verge or pavement.

Perm-4 (at part of the existing entrance and part of the proposed entrance) is self-draining
though it also is connected hydraulically to the main storage section. Adjacent to the highway
verge there is a concrete check dam extending from the CGA base to the laying course. This
is to prevent any of the stored water from infiltrating into the verge area and compromising its
own structure.

The whole area of the Permeable Paving below the laying course has a layer of permeable
Hydraulically Bound Coarse Graded Aggregate (HBCGA), with a depth of 100mm. This is
additional to the required depths of CGA but is part of the structural composition of the sub-
base to cater for Traffic Category 5 loading. It also covers the geocells.

There are no more impermeable areas within the planning application site which have to be
accounted for.

Ideally the use of water butts with diverter kits are to be included on each of the rainwater
down pipes. These water butts have no impact on the full drainage strategy but are to be
included as an environmental consideration.
SOAKAWAY DESIGN

All infiltration structures are designed to meet the requirements set out in Approved
Document H of the Building Regulations, and the recommendations of the SuDs Manual
produced by CIRIA and to conform to BRE365 principles.

Basically this means, that for a 10 year storm event + Climate Change addition to rainfall of
+40%, the water level in the storage structure must not rise higher than the invert level of the
lowest incoming pipe.
Secondly for a 100 year storm event + Climate Change addition to rainfall of +45% there
must be no flooding above ground level resulting from any part of the structure.
Lastly the structure must drain one half of it’s maximum stored volume, for the Critical Storm,
within a 24 hour period to allow for a possible next incoming storm.

For the purpose of this statement and for the submitted drainage layout, a Soil Infiltration
Rate of 8.430E-06 metres / second, which is typical for these types of soils, has been used in
the calculations. For these calculations the Rainfall Data is FEH with the Rainfall Model of
FEH13 and the Data Type is Point.

FUTURE CONSTRUCTION

Any soakaway or point of infiltration must be located a minimum distance of 5 metres from
any controlled structure. This includes any permanent habitable structure, including garages,
so as not to compromise the stability of any foundations.

Additionally all soakaways or points of infiltration must be located a minimum distance of 5

metres from any new or existing soakaway so as not compromise the infiltrating soils of each
other.

Additionally any new soakaway, or point of infiltration must be located a minimum distance of
5 metres from any Public Foul or Surface Water Sewer on, or adjacent to, the site so as not
to compromise the integrity of any sewer line.

Finally any new soakaway, or point of infiltration must be located a minimum distance of 2½
metres from any site boundary to conform with Arun District Council’s ‘Code of Best
Practice’.

REFERENCES

Supplementary guidance notes regarding surface water drainage are located at

https://www.arun.gov.uk/surfacewater.

A surface water drainage checklist is available at https://www.arun.gov.uk/drainagechecklist

This should be submitted with a Discharge of Conditions Application.

RC
Mate Geo-Technic Services
Revision-03
14th April 2023