So, you’re planning a soakaway system for your garden or driveway? Great idea. A soakaway is a simple, eco-friendly way to deal with excess rainwater, helping to prevent puddles, flooding and waterlogged ground around your home.
But before you start digging a big hole and tipping in loads of rubble (the old-school approach), let’s talk about a much smarter, more modern solution: plastic soakaway crates. And for 2026, there are even more options to suit every space, garden size and drainage challenge.
Traditionally, soakaways were built by filling a pit with rubble, broken bricks or hardcore. While this does create some space for water to sit, it is far from efficient.
Here’s why rubble soakaways fall short:
- Limited storage space. Rubble takes up most of the pit, leaving less room for water.
- Hard work to install. Heavy, messy and time-consuming, often needing machinery.
- Prone to clogging. Soil and silt settle between the rubble and slowly reduce performance.
Now compare that with modern plastic soakaway crates:
- Lightweight and easy to handle. One person can lift and install them.
- Huge water capacity. Designed with up to 95 percent void space.
- Modular and flexible. Build the soakaway to the size and shape you need.
- Long-term reliability. Strong enough to handle ground pressure without collapsing.
Think of it like this. Rubble is a bit hit and miss, while crates are purpose-built to manage water properly.
What’s new for 2026: more crate options, more flexibility
Soakaways are no longer one-size-fits-all. In 2026, Spudulica.co.uk offers a wider range of plastic soakaway crate options to suit different spaces and capacities:
400 litre soakaway crates
Ideal for larger gardens, driveways and areas handling high volumes of rainwater. These are perfect when you need serious capacity without digging an enormous pit.
300 litre soakaway crates
A great all-round option for medium-sized gardens and home drainage projects. Plenty of storage while remaining easy to install and adapt.
Shallow 100 litre soakaway crate kits
Perfect for tighter spaces, shallow dig areas or where underground services limit depth. These kits make soakaways accessible even in tricky locations.
This expanded range to our standard 190L option crates makes soakaways a versatile solution for everything from small urban gardens to larger rural plots.
Do it once, do it right
Not every drainage problem needs a huge hole and a high-capacity crate. In fact, many of the most common issues around UK homes are perfect for the shallow 100 litre soakaway crate kits.
The project
A small rear garden with a patio that puddles after heavy rain. There’s limited digging depth due to services, and the space is tight between the patio edge and the lawn.
The solution
Instead of abandoning the idea of a soakaway altogether, a 100L shallow soakaway crate kit is installed just below ground level.
How it works
- A compact pit is dug to suit the shallow crate depth
• The crate is wrapped fully in non-woven geotextile to prevent silt ingress
• Rainwater from the patio edge or downpipe is directed into the crate
• Water disperses slowly into the surrounding ground without flooding the surface
Why the 100L crate is ideal here
- Fits where deeper crates simply can’t
• Minimal digging, less disruption to the garden
• Perfect for patios, paths, sheds and small lawns
• Modular, so multiple crates can still be linked if needed
This kind of setup is also ideal for:
• Downpipe drainage in terraced or urban gardens
• Garden rooms and sheds
• Side returns and narrow access areas
• Retrofit drainage fixes where space is limited
The key takeaway? A lack of depth doesn’t mean a lack of drainage options. The 100L soakaway crate kits make modern soakaways achievable in places where rubble or larger crates just wouldn’t work.
