Manage Your Surface Water Professionally

Surface Water is defined as water on the surface of continents – rivers, lakes, or wetlands. You need to manage surface water. To do this effectively, you will need to create a surface water management plan.

What Is a Surface Water Management Plan?

A surface water management plan is a project created to investigate local flooding problems. This includes flooding from drains, sewers, and groundwater. This also includes runoff from land, ditches, and small watercourses that are a direct result of heavy rainfall in the area.

These plans are geared towards identifying ways to limit local flooding. Most often, they provide a realistic action plan to deliver or implement the management measures agreed upon by the group.

Auckland Council Requirements

The Auckland Council is responsible for the management and maintenance of public drainage and roads. Plus, they are also in charge of building and maintaining the public storm water drainage network that is being used by everyone in the region.

The Auckland Council recommends for property owners to follow simple guidelines to keep their areas safe from surface water flooding and overland flow. Simple, regular maintenance goes a long way in preserving properties from flooding, especially when there is heavy rainfall in your area.

The Auckland Council’s responsibilities include creating an increased understanding of flooding in local areas, as well as where flooding is bound to occur. The council is in charge of preparing and implementing an action plan to determine measures that will limit local flooding.

The council is also designed to increase awareness of the responsibilities and duties that will help manage flood risks and improve public understanding and participation with regards to local flooding.

How to Protect Your Property

You can maintain your drains, downpipes, and gutters and keep them free of debris that may cause blockage. Keep grass and garden areas in your property to help soak up rainwater. Use permeable pavers instead of asphalt or concrete. That way, you enable water to soak into your property grounds.

You can also maintain vegetation around any streams in your property to prevent pollution and avoid erosion from reaching the stream. You may also want to perform a flood risk assessment prior to building in a low area.

What Is Overland Flow?

Sometimes you need to deal with overland flow. This involves surface water from rainfall, which, if not well managed, may cause flooding of houses and properties.

Auckland is subject to frequent bursts of intense waterfall, which brings about huge amounts of surface water. This surface water will naturally flow downhill to the lake or sea. Left unchecked, this surface water will run across private property, especially if there is no proper piped drainage system in the area.

Overland flow is a normal result of massive rainfalls. It can be managed by following simple guidelines. You can avoid blocking the area of overland flow at the downstream and upstream parts of your property. The best way is to protect your home by making sure that your direct surface area flows away from your house and garage.

Prevent Flooding

Flooding on your property is unpleasant. To prevent flooding and drainage problems in your area, be sure to clear and check all of your drains. Remember, it’s your responsibility as the landowner to manage drainage on your property.

Usually, the water that flows into your drains will eventually flow into your public storm water drainage network or streams before they end up in the sea. Taking care of your drainage and what’s washed down will help keep your area’s bodies of water safe and clean. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Add Value to Your Property

As a property owner, you will want to manage your water surface or hire professionals to do this for you. This will bring in more profits in the long run if you decide to put your property on the market.

If you are selling your property, don’t flog your drainage problem onto the new owner as it might come back later and bite you in the behind. If you don’t disclose drainage problems during your sale, the new owners can come back and sue for damages.

You need to be wise about your decisions when it comes to maintaining and protecting your property. You must avoid damages by installing preventive measures designed to protect your property.

Surface Drainage

Surface drainage involves the fast and effective removal of excess water from land in a controlled way. This requires the use of a natural watercourse or an artificial drainage system called surface drainage. You need to make sure that your surface drainage does not cause harm to the environment.

How to Set Up Surface Water Drains and Grates

You can set up your own surface drainage or hire professionals to do the work for you. Should you decide to set up your own surface water drains and grates, here are a few steps you need to follow:

1. You will need to position channels to line and grade on concrete support pads about 100mm from each butted joint. You must leave this until concrete pads have set.

2. You need to encase channels to the minimum dimensions shown in the diagrams using high density concrete.

3. Increase the dimensions of the encasement concrete and reinforce with steel as necessary for the intended load and usage of the channels and site substrate stability.

Remember, encasement concrete should be installed using acceptable engineering standards. It should be isolated from adjacent concrete by construction/contraction joints. These should also be applied to control longitudinal shrinkage of the encasement concrete.

Professional Help for Your Surface Water Management Needs

To keep your property protected from flooding and to help manage your surface water, you will need to install a surface drainage. In this regard, you may need professional help. Euro Plumbing is your best choice for this.

Euro Plumbing was born from a desire to bring European standards, quality and attention to detail to New Zealand. This desire, together with the latest technology, depth of experience, and expertise makes Euro Plumbing the ideal partner for a project of any size.

Call Euro Plumbing for all your surface water management and surface drainage needs. We’re here to help you install the right surface drainage system that’s perfect and tailor-fit for your property. Say goodbye to surface water flooding and protect your property from damage.