While there are plenty of situations where you can’t protect against coastal storms and extreme weather events, there are often ways to prevent flooding and backups. In many cases, a building floods due to clogged drains, drainage backups or poorly maintained infrastructure. You can avoid many of these issues so that you don’t suffer water damage to your property. If you’d like advice or assistance, we’re always here to help. And here are a few steps you can take to minimise your risk.
Prevent Flooding From Clogged Pipes
A common cause of domestic flooding is a clogged pipe. The most common reasons for blocked pipes are pouring fat and oil down the drain, or flushing wet wipes, nappies or sanitary products down the toilet. Rainwater drains outside the home gather dirt and silt and need to be cleaned out from time to time to stop them from backing up. It may be time to do some checks if you start to notice the water draining more slowly than usual, strange smells, or gurgling sounds from the drains or sinks.
Protect against flooding caused by backwater
Depending on how your building is situated, it may be necessary to consider a backwater valve. If your building is lower than the municipal drainage system or road, or you have a basement, you may be at risk from backwater flooding. Some of these are set so that they’re closed as default. While this prevents flooding, it can reduce the flow of drainage within the building at times when there is no flooding. The Kessel valves we use are engineered to only close when flooding occurs, which keeps your drains working well for 99% of the time when there’s no risk.
This can be used in conjunction with a Lifting Station. This technology allows you to continue using your drains even when a backup occurs. This means that if drainage flooding occurs, you’re protected and not interrupted. This can be especially important for commercial situations such as in a restaurant. If flooding occurs, your backwater valves will activate to prevent floodwater from backing up into your building. Then the lifting station pump activates to remove the wastewater from your building. The pump bypasses the closed valve and into the sewer, even though it is full of water. This keeps your property nice and dry and allows minimises disruption to you while the flooded sewer is sorted out.
If you need further advice or help to protect against flooding, you can always give us a call on 1800 437 246
