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Overhead sewers

The causes of domestic floods are plenty. The basement flooding can occur due to external as well as internal reasons and more often than not external reasons lead to building up of internal reasons of flooding. This can be understood with an example.

Every house is equipped with a drainage system that collects the sewage from all the parts of the house and empties it into the main drainage line of the city. It is also known that through the main drainage line the sewage/drainage systems of the houses in the vicinity are interconnected.

Now when there is incessant rainfall or hailstorm in the city, the pressure on the main drainage lines increases manifold so much so that the sewage from the drain lines of houses are not absorbed into the main line but are instead caused to flow back towards the house. In such a condition one may be taken aback to see volumes of sewage flooding his or her house, the sewage not only from one’s own house but also that of neighbours’. As explained earlier this happens because the drainage systems of the houses are interconnected because of the main drainage lines of the cities.

To prevent basement flooding (as the sewage backflow first hits the basement), effective flood control and plumbing mechanisms are required. One of these is implementation of overhead sever valves in the drainage system. Under controllable conditions, an overhead sewer can work very effectively towards preventing sewage backflow into the basement and into the house.

Before overhead sewers were devised as a means of flood prevention, stand pipes and floor drain pipes were used. But these were unable to withstand the slightest increase in pressure caused by incessant storm and rain. The stand pipe would break under the pressure and also cause a break or disruption in the walls and the foundation of the basement thus causing the sewage to seep through the cracks in the wall.

Overhead sewers are in a much better position to withstand the pressure generated by the rains and the main drainage system and prevent the backflow of the sewage into the house. But they are not very effective against the major cataclysmic floods caused by the overflowing of rivers and canals. Better flood control systems need to be devised to prevent against the damages caused by community flooding etc.

Parks’ Plumbing and Sewer Inc gives a lot of weight to the implementation of overhead sewers in the plumbing plan of a house, municipality, or a commercial building. It has in fact come up with a better solution for preventing basement flooding which is called as Parks’ Double Guard Flood Control System. The device is a copyright of the Parks’ and has been proved to be very effective as a part of the flood control system.

The system of overhead sewers is a bit costly one but it is much better than having to lose all your belongings stored in basement to sewage backflow.

Article Source: http://www.ezinearticles.mk

Bill Pappas is the author of this article on Lift Stations. Find more information about Overhead Sewers here.

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