Do geotextiles clog up?

Posted on October 30, 2010January 24, 2021Categories TECHNICALTags , , ,

The most common technical question we are asked “Doesn’t the fabric around the drain clog up?”

The answer takes more than a simple “no” or “yes.”

Most of the misunderstanding about geotextiles comes from their original introduction into the golf course industry when they were first used as “socked pipe.” The industry installed the “socked pipe” into a bed of gravel. When failed systems were removed from the ground it was noticed that clay and silts had accumulated around the sock and the sock was blamed for the drainage failure.

In reality, the gravel had failed because it was not sized properly for the native soils. If the gravel had been the proper backfill the fines would have never reached