Disconnection of Celavita and Plukon business premises from the sewer system
The municipality of Oldebroek is joining forces with the business community to tackle waterlogging: the two largest business premises in the municipality, those of Celavita and Plukon, will be disconnected from the sewer system.
The project involves the disconnection of roofs and pavement over a surface area of some 8 hectares. As a result, rather than being discharged along with waste water, rainwater is drained to surface water or allowed to infiltrate into the soil. Discontinuing the discharge of rainwater into the sewage treatment plant will reduce waterlogging elsewhere in the municipality.
Two central infiltration facilities are being constructed at the business premises: a wadi and crates. Ownership of the systems will be vested with the companies. The wadi will be designed as an appealing location for presenting and experiencing climate, water, and nature issues. The rough draft has been designed in collaboration with several local residents. An educational set-up kindled considerable enthusiasm (see rough draft). In the near future, primary school classes may sign up for the utilisation of this location.
Image: Rough draft for the wadi at the Plukon premises
The project is being carried out in close consultation with groundwater company Vitens and the province, considering that the industrial estate is situated adjacent to the groundwater catchment area. Consequently, the area around the Plukon and Celavita premises makes an interesting educational location focused on raising water awareness.
Lessons learned from the project
- Include large privately-owned roofs and premises in disconnection projects; in many cases, such surface areas constitute an easy profit.
- With respect to large buildings, wastewater disconnection frequently offers another interesting option; in such cases, rainwater discharge remains. Many buildings feature an annular conduit to which all the downspouts and wastewater sources (such as kitchens and toilets) are connected. Disconnecting the wastewater sources will leave a clean water sewer system. In many cases, this will be cheaper than disconnecting all the downspouts.
- Collaboration creates new opportunities. Not only does the project combat waterlogging, it has also identified an opportunity for sustainable energy consumption. The collaboration with Celavita revealed that warm water is being drained off. This will now be used for the sustainable heating of the swimming pool.
Contact person
E. van Leussen
Gemeente Oldebroek
evleussen@oldebroek.nl
06-57937211