Soakaway Crates for Grass Swales

Soakaway crates are the key part of any grass swale feature. In grass swales, a soakaway crate is placed underground, beneath a shallow graded slope of soil that is populated with flood tolerant and erosion resistant vegetation. These plants, as well as geotextile membrane wrapping, ensure that water enters the soakaway crate at a slower and controlled rate. The soakaway in the grass swale system will filter out any pollutants in the stormwater before holding the water and eventually allowing it to infiltrate into the soil below.

Rainsmart’s ellipse soakaway crates are designed with grass swale applications in mind, featuring a lateral crush load of 18 tonnes per square metre, which is the highest crush load of any type of soakaway crate available in the UK. This further ensures that they are a safe and reliable option for underground stormwater storage.

Soakaway crates are available in both a pre-assembled or flat-packed option, the latter of which is great for saving space on site and can be constructed in 10 to 15 minutes per cubic metre.

Grass Swales Diagram For Soakaways

What is the difference between a swale and a ditch?

While swales and ditches are similar in that both are low slopes in the ground that can collect water, a swale generally has more moisture in the soil and a greater presence of plants and vegetation. These properties make a swale a more suitable area to install a soakaway in order to create a grass swale infiltration system.

How does a swale work?

A swale aims to reduce the speed of and capture stormwater runoff by spreading it wide across a shallow, valley-like channel of permeable soil and vegetation, known as a swale. As the water is spread across the soil, the flood-resistant plants help control the rate that the water enters the permeable soil.

Once water enters the soil and reaches the soakaway, the geotextile membrane will prevent any pollutants from entering the soakaway along with the water, so that it can pass through the crate and enter the soil below in the highest quality possible. In this system, the soakaway crate wrapped in membrane essentially acts as a water cleaner.