Storm and foul water drainage installation

ECL Civil Engineering provides storm and foul water drainage installation services to a broad range of customers. We undertake projects which vary considerably from small drainage connections for self-builds to large scale residential, employment, retail and industrial schemes. 

With our experienced in-house workforce and comprehensive fleet of plant equipment, we have a self-delivery model that is well equipped to serve any drainage project scope, from working on an adopted highway to connecting a new sewer to an existing mains network.

Each of the regional statutory water authorities recognises our meticulous quality assessment procedures. Meaning we are a fully accredited installer of drainage networks, and our expert project management teams can take your drainage requirements from the design phase right to successful adoption by the local water board.

Our Drainage Services Include:

• Drainage Assessments for Site Appraisal 
• Sewer Diversions / Sewer Connections
• Timber Headings / Deep Drainage
• Surface Water Drainage Schemes
• Flood Alleviation Works
• Interceptor Installation
• Waste Treatment Installation
• Culvert Construction / Maintenance
• Sustainable Drainage Solutions (SUDS)
• Pipeline CCTV / Inspection Surveys
• Sewer Jetting Services
• Reinforced Concrete Infrastructure
• Associated Minor / Major Civil Works
• Excavation / Reinstatement Service
• Pump stations, wet wells and foul rising mains
• Sewer rehabilitation

Hi-Tech Plant Fleet

We continually invest heavily in ensuring our machinery has the latest technology available on the market to deliver the very best service as safely as possible. Our fleet holds excavators up to 50 tonnes, articulated dump trucks, GPS/laser-controlled machinery with AI capabilities, and specialist machinery, such as our Vacuum Excavator, which provides a safer option in situations where traditional mechanical excavation is too high risk.

Drainage Assessments 

Our surface water and foul water drainage assessment will qualify a potential developments ability to manage surface water runoff and foul water according to planning regulations. In addition, our appraisals can help establish a drainage system’s technical viability and highlight relevant constraints, including sewer easements, diversions and reinforcement and provide solutions to overcome any concerns. 

Buildability Review

We have an in-house technical team that offers a complete ‘Buildability Review’ to support clients who wish to retain the design responsibility of their drainage network.

The ‘Buildability Review’ will identify any desk design oversight in advance of mobilisation and reduce their impact on the project programme and bottom line by catching them early.

Detailed Drainage Design for Adoption: Under 104 Agreement

We install surface water and foul water drainage schemes where statutory undertakers adopt drainage systems under Section 104 agreements. 

Our skilled team provides some of the highest standards of quality and safety in the industry, along with an exceptional work ethic.

Storm Drainage Systems

Here at ECL, we have four decades of experience installing storm drainage systems on residential, commercial and industrial projects. Typically, the storm drainage systems we incorporate on developments take the drainage from highways and buildings and control groundwater flow to reduce flooding and other saturation issues and reduce pollution, erosion and other health and environmental issues.

Foul Water Systems

ECL design, develop, and install foul water drainage schemes for mains and non-mains sewer areas, gravity and pumped systems, and privately owned and adoptable systems. 

Balancing Ponds and Attenuation

We’ve managed some form of storm attenuation for most of our projects, from a simple pond, attenuation crates to precast concrete tanks. 

Many of the balancing ponds we install have a secondary purpose: providing amenity or agricultural land (in areas that flood rarely) or providing wildlife habitat.

Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS)

A sustainable urban drainage system aims to manage stormwater locally and encourage infiltration, attenuation, and passive treatment to reduce the likelihood of pollutants (such as hydrocarbons) reaching the watercourse and to reduce the risk of floods in extreme weather conditions.

We have vast experience installing all types of systems across our projects, including permeable paving, filter strips, french drains, swales, complex stormwater storage systems, attenuation systems, trenchless systems under roads and watercourses, as well as basins and ponds.

If you have a technical enquiry or require support on your next drainage project, please get in touch today and see how our pre-construction team can help.

What is Foul Water Drainage?

A foul water drainage network is a system of pipes, chambers and pumps that discharge foul water from a building. The foul water is then carried it into the national sewage treatment network. The way it works is domestic drainage systems connected to the public sewers take the wastewater from the toilets, baths, skins, showers, dishwashers, and wash machines and carry it through the sanitary pipework (above ground pipework) into an underground drainage network. The underground drainage network is operated and maintained by the local statutory water authority.

Depending on the specific scenario, several different systems can be installed to manage foul water drainage such as Storage Tank Systems, Gravity and Pumped Systems and Privately owned and Adoptable Systems.

Here are some of the different foul water drainage systems.

Several different systems can be installed to manage foul water drainage, such as Gravity and Pumped Systems and Privately owned and Adoptable Systems.

• Gravity Foul Water Drainage

• Pumped Foul Water Drainage

• Privately Owned Foul Water Drainage

• Adoptable Foul Water Drainage Systems

Gravity Foul Water Drainage

Gravity sewers are the optimum engineering solution for dealing with foul water because they are cost-effective and low maintenance. We still use the same principles as employed by Brunell when he built the Victorian sewer network in London. Pipes are laid at a gradient which and gravity does the rest pulling the wastewater down the network with any further mechanical assistance required. Gravity systems do not require a power supply and have a very long lifespan if properly maintained by regular cleansing of the network.

Pumped Foul Water Drainage

A pumped foul drainage network is utilised in situations where invert levels are unfavourable. In this instance, the location where the wastewater is generated or collected is lower than the location where it is discharged into the public network. Water will not flow uphill and so the network is unable to rely on gravity alone to ensure the flow of wastewater to the discharge point. Instead, a mechanical pump is required to generate the pressure necessary to overcome the level difference and push the wastewater in the correct direction to the outfall sewer. These systems require a power supply, septicity monitoring, regular monitoring and extensive maintenance.

Privately Owned Foul Water Drainage

Any system or part of a network that lies on non-public land is considered to be privately owned foul water systems such as septic tanks, cesspits, or a self-owned domestic sewage treatment plant. Those privately owned foul water drainage systems that do not have a licence to discharge into the local public networks are responsible for their own waste disposal.

Adoptable Foul Water Drainage Systems

Adoptable foul sewers systems are the parts of the network that are contained within either public land or land owned by the water authority. The majority of the network is buried beneath our highway network and accessed and maintained by the manholes that you see on the road. Each network contains a series of pump stations that distribute the wastewater under high pressure into the local waste treatment plants where it is processed by the water board using a series of sophisticated techniques to remove pollutants.

What are the differences between foul water drainage and stormwater drainage?

Foul water drainage removes wastewater from a building, such as used bath, shower and toilet water, through the sanitary pipework (above ground pipework) to the main sewers. Stormwater drainage, on the other hand, removes rainwater that is collected in gutters, gullies, ditches and channels when it falls onto external hard surfaces such as roofs, driveways, roads and pavements. It is then discharged via a series of pipe and ditch networks into a local watercourse in a controlled way. This significantly reduces the likelihood of flooding in our built environment as it helps control the groundwater flow to reduce the risk of ground saturation. Stormwater is naturally occurring and has not been contaminated and can therefore be discharged into the watercourse or be directed into a soakaway to naturally seep into the water table.

ECL is highly experienced in facilitating storm and foul water drainage installations on major infrastructure projects around the UK. Please get in touch for support on your next project.

Find out more about the full range of Civil Engineering Services we offer or click on one of the following areas below for more information:-

• Highways & Infrastructure
• Bulk Excavations
• Enabling Works
• Groundworks
• Remediation & Stabilisation
• Bridge Infrastructure
• Brownfield Remediation
• Sewer Pumping Stations
• Wet Well Pumping Stations
• Vacuum Excavation

With our self-delivery model and the latest technology, we have raised productivity and are delivering infrastructure schemes quicker than ever before. 

To see how ECL Civil Engineering can help with your Groundwork or Civil Engineering Project, please get in touch.