Crawley

A good example is a site ASL recently looked at near Crawley. The owners have a substantial piece of land with existing buildings due to be demolished and replaced with a new development, and one of the important questions was how the foul sewage would be dealt with as the site develops.

The long-term requirement could be for around 70 people, which is a substantial amount of sewage to try to dispose of into the ground on this particular site. Before anybody commits to that solution, ASL recommended trial holes and proper ground and percolation testing to establish exactly what the ground can and cannot accept. For a smaller temporary operation of perhaps around 12 people, an on-site private system may be practical while the development progresses, subject to the surveys and necessary permissions, but 70 people is a very different proposition.

ASL’s preferred long-term option is therefore to investigate a pumping station and rising main to the public foul sewer. The first job is to locate a suitable public sewer, establish a practical route to it and determine what permissions and connection arrangements would be required. There are also neighbouring properties that appear to face similar drainage issues, so there could be an opportunity for more than one property to benefit from a properly designed pumping-main solution. However, joint schemes depend heavily on timing, cooperation and future plans, so they cannot be relied upon until everyone is ready to proceed.

Often the best approach is to plan ahead: find the public sewer, establish the route and put in a properly designed pumping station and rising main that can serve the development for years to come. That is why ASL investigates first. Trial holes, ground testing, the existing drainage, neighbouring possibilities and the route to the public sewer all form part of making the right long-term decision.

Services

• Pumps & Pumping Stations
• Main Sewer Connections
• Soakaways & Percolation Tests