© Pipelife
How can infrastructure solutions be protected from damage caused by heavy rainfall? And how can the precious resource water be used sustainably? wienerberger offers solutions.
Climate change is intensifying and extreme rainfall events are an ever-more common occurrence. The consequences range from overloaded sewage systems to flooding and flash floods. This is a problem confronting urban planners, and the operators of industrial facilities and shopping malls alike. Fortunately, the Raineo® rainwater management system from wienerberger’s Pipelife subsidiary provides an innovative solution.
Extreme rainfall events are a problem in particular for growing urban agglomerations with extensive sealed surfaces. Sealed surfaces covered in concrete or asphalt do not allow natural seepage, nor are drainage systems designed to cope with sudden high levels of precipitation. This is where Raineo® from Pipelife opens up new opportunities. The rainwater is collected, purified through filtering and then stored underground in so-called Stormboxes. These offer two options: Water can either be released from the Stormbox to seep slowly into the soil. Or it can be retained in the Stormbox before being transported into the public sewage system or harvested for further use in irrigation.
Due to soil sealing, rainwater is often unable to seep away where it falls and is instead transported away to other regions in sewers and rivers. This disrupts the natural water cycle and exposes entire regions to the risk of drought. Raineo® provides a remedy. This system enables rainwater to seep back into the ground where it falls, preserving the natural functions of the soil, maintaining a stable groundwater level and reducing the risk of subsidence and structural damage to buildings.
Thanks to the Raineo® retention system, water from precipitation or snow melt can be temporarily retained and then released into the soil through slow, controlled infiltration. This prevents storm-water sewers and combined sewers from overflowing and protects the environment from contamination. It also reduces the costs of flood damage for local authorities, investors and property owners. Furthermore, the stored water can be used for irrigation or as so-called grey water for sanitary installations, conserving resources and saving valuable drinking water.
Irrespective of whether the rainwater is to be infiltrated or harvested and recycled: Pipelife delivers customized solutions. Thanks to the modular construction of the compact Stormbox, Raineo® can be customized to meet the individual requirements of any project. Pipelife supports its customers throughout the project, from the planning phase to completion. The company also supplies all products and accessories on a one-stop-shop basis, including pipes and fittings, water filters, oil separators, and road gullies.
© Pipelife
The compact Stormbox is at the heart of the patented modular system. With around 95 percent of its volume available for storage, a Stormbox can absorb up to 995 liters of water per cubic meter. This is a major advantage over grit or gravel layers, which absorb less than one third of their volume. There are currently two types of Stormbox on the market: The smaller Stormbox 1 with clips for connecting the boxes and the larger Stormbox 2 (shown above) which is connected with a push-fit system. Maintenance is easy and safe.
The rainwater management system Raineo® is already being used successfully in almost all European markets. The system can handle any volume of collected water, be it from parking lots in front of residential buildings to airport runways. For temporary rainwater storage, several Stormboxes are stacked and connected with one another. Able to bear heavy loads, they can even be installed under trafficked surfaces and are suitable for installation under roads, paths, access ramps or parking lots.
Demand for sustainable rainwater management is growing: In the EU alone, several hundred square kilometers of land are sealed each year. Consequently, there will be strong demand for the know-how of the Pipelife specialists in the future, too.
© Marjolein den Hartog