Which Drainage Pipe Do I Need?
UK Flow Centre buying guide
Choose drainage pipe by what the pipe must do
The first decision is simple: are you collecting water from the ground, or carrying water from one point to another? These need different pipe.
1. Choose the route by purpose
2. Understand the main options
- Perforated land-drainage pipe: for collecting water from surrounding ground into the pipe.
- Solid underground drainage pipe: for carrying water to an outlet, chamber, ditch or approved connection.
- Soil and waste pipe: for building drainage applications where that system is appropriate.
- Twinwall: for larger, robust underground runs where the installation calls for it.
Do not use perforated land-drainage pipe to carry water away from a building or across a site. It will release water into the ground along the route, rather than contain it.
3. Plan the installation, not just the pipe
- Confirm the source of water and the legal/appropriate discharge point.
- Allow a workable fall for gravity drainage, or design a pumped solution where gravity will not work.
- Choose pipe diameter around the catchment and expected flow.
- Plan chambers, access, rodding points, junctions and transitions before the trench is closed.
Quick choice
- Wet lawns, fields or landscaped ground: start with a land-drainage layout, then plan how collected water will leave the system.
- Downpipes, surface water or carried water: use solid drainage to take it to the intended outlet.
- Large buried run under loading: consider the strength and installation requirements of twinwall.
Technical guidance from UK Flow Centre, operated by JK Irrigation Ltd.