Introduction
With the freezing cold temperatures that have been reached in the past few months, along with the peaks and troughs of the unpredictable weather patterns in the UK, it’s more important than ever to have a robust drainage maintenance plan in place for your buildings to prevent problems from occurring. During the colder months, it’s crucial to evaluate drainage systems with the increase of adverse weather conditions. Buildings can be at risk of property damage without a fully functioning drainage system and it’s essential that preventative maintenance is continued at regular intervals.
A rigorous drainage maintenance plan is the key to ensuring drains stay at their peak efficiency. Water moves quickly, and the cleanliness of pipework and drains will prevent blockages leading to overflow or standing water issues. In the long term, this will be more cost-effective and environmentally friendly for your business.
Benefits of drainage maintenance
Poor weather can greatly impact our drainage systems and their efficiency and productivity. With the increase in wet weather conditions, water can quickly accumulate and inefficient drainage such as blockages or similar issues can prove detrimental to the operation of any building. At this time of year, blockages can be caused by a build-up of residual substances which stiffen and clog with the cold weather. Similarly, leaves and other debris can reduce the pipe capacity.
For many buildings, water runoff from a build-up of melting snow or the overflow of blocked drains can cause cracks in the foundations, risking the structural integrity of the building itself. This can also lead to standing water, causing wood to rot.
With building runoff and inadequate surface drainage, standing water on surfaces such as walkways or car parks can be affected by wintry weather conditions. This can freeze and produce hazardous ice patches, or can lead to freeze-thaw cycles, causing cracks or further damage to surfaces.
Additionally, in moisture-heavy environments, mould growth can be rampant. This mould will continue to grow until the moisture is removed, which could lead to health conditions or health code violations.
Another key issue that arises during the winter months is the sheer amount of rainfall that can occur. Rainfall will run into drains and sewers, or it will just sit if it has nowhere to go.
An example of good rainwater drainage maintenance can prevent reactive call-outs. MS Drainage Division carried out essential surface water channel drain cleaning to avoid flooded car parks as part of our planned preventative maintenance service. In this example, all inert silt was removed from the gulley grates and gulley pots to protect the downstream drainage. The gulley was washed down, and all outlets were cleaned using a High-Pressure Water Jetting (HPWJ) system. Routine maintenance was also conducted on the petrol interceptors as a standard procedure to ensure they collect inert silt from car parks to allow the flow of water.
Preventative Measures
Ray McDermid, Drainage Supervisor at MS explains “in the unpredictable and stormy weather months, one small problem could lead to much worse. If your maintenance routine is up to date, it will enable you to look after your channel drains and gullies; the storm drains will stay clean, which in turn will also protect petrol interceptors, minimising the chances of a knock-on effect to more issues.
It is imperative to look after your drainage system. If you can catch a drainage issue early, you can avoid costly civil repairs and ensure your building is running at peak operation without wasting large amounts of energy.”
It’s important to prepare for freezing weather conditions. As water freezes, it expands, which can cause frost damage to outdoor pipes. Insulation is one of the best ways for prevention. Circular insulation is a cost-effective solution which can be quickly applied to any pipe at risk of freezing and can be installed during planned preventative maintenance regimes.
It is also important for drainage equipment to be stored correctly indoors where possible, to prevent any freezing of residual water which may later cause damage and thus financial expense to repair or replace.
Detailed reporting and documentation of all planned preventative and reactive works should be recorded, using software such as Site Audit Pro. This will enable drainage engineers to carry out audits and inspections quickly and extensively, finding the best possible solution if further problems should occur.
Links to Net Zero
Drainage maintenance and well-maintained systems play a big part in enabling the sustainable development of the UK and the net zero goals of many companies within. With good drainage comes the improvement of water quality and increased management of the water runoff that can cause flooding or threaten the structural integrity of a building.
With the clearance of blocked or clogged, drains come the running of buildings to their peak efficiency, conserving large amounts of energy.
Insulation of pipes to maintain temperatures over 0°C is more efficient and far more cost-effective than heating/cooling cycles, whereby more energy is exerted in a greater uplift of temperatures from a cooler state. Maintaining a steady temperature uses far less energy and comes at a little cost even with the rise in energy costs.
MS Drainage Division
MS aim to support and assist their clients on their carbon journeys to net zero and a fully functional drainage system is key to this.
MS are committed to offering a high level of service to our clients and we invest time and resources in developing the most cost-effective, energy-efficient solutions for our customers.
Our team works predominantly around London and the Southeast. Our specialist engineers work on preventative and reactive maintenance, utilising extensive equipment including specialist CCTV, and conducting thorough reporting of all works undertaken. This enables them to offer a bespoke maintenance package and/or a reactive callout-only option, delivered all in-house from start to finish, therefore keeping hourly rates much lower than that of other drainage companies.
Our division is fully qualified by the National Association of Drainage Contractors (NADC), and we pride ourselves on our passion for service delivery and our customer-first ethos. Our collaborative approach to net zero is at the forefront of everything we do.
We are currently on our own carbon reduction journey with a goal to reach net zero by 2025 and we, therefore, understand the importance of finding environmentally friendly, energy-efficient solutions for our clients, to assist where we can on their own carbon journeys. Putting measures in place now to prevent poor drainage in the winter months will save time, energy and resources further down the line.
For more information about the services we offer or to get in touch with us, please contact enquiries@msmsolutions.co.uk, or raise a callout directly.
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