Hi folks

We have a conundrum with the Completion drains test for our private drainage with a pumped discharge.

The house is finished, lived in and the drains have been used for around three months.

Before we started using the drainage system we did a test by bunging the system just before the private drainage filling with tap water to test and then using an emersion pump to pump the clean water into a field drain.

Now that the drains are used it will be more difficult to deal with the water in the drains after the test. If I remove the bung the private drainage will become overwhelmed. If I remove the central cap on the bung it will discharge slower, and the pump will be able to cope, but the quality of the discharge water would be questionable. I could use a septic tank emptying service, but, if possible, I would like to avoid the cost.

Any ideas, what have you guys done?

Do the test then pump out the last chamber onto the flower bed.

I’m not seeing the problem really.

Russell's approach is what most people end up doing on these. The trick is to stage it, pull the bung in the morning and let each chamber settle before the next, so the pumped discharge never gets swamped all at once. Worth checking with your building control officer first though, as some want to witness the test with the bungs pulled.

Our BC and Warranty people have asked us to bung the outlet in the chamber just before the private drainage system and fill up the whole system. Put a stick in the inspection chamber with a mark on it and measure if there is a drop after 30 minutes.

So, we will be using a lot of water.