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 Celavita and Plukon companies, which hold the largest business premises in the municipality, will be disconnecting their downspouts from the sewer system.

The two business premises comprise a surface area of some 8 hectares. Across the entire area, rainwater from both the roofs and the pavement will be disconnected from the sewer system. As a result, rather than being discharged along with waste water, rainwater will be drained to surface water or allowed to infiltrate the soil.

Two central infiltration facilities are being constructed at the business premises: a wadi and infiltration crates. Ownership of the systems will be vested with the companies. These measures will not only reduce the risk of waterlogging at the business premises; the probability of waterlogging will also decrease slightly elsewhere in the municipality.

schetsontwerp_wadi_bij_plukon

The rough draft has been developed in collaboration with a number of local residents and in close consultation with groundwater company Vitens and the province, considering that the industrial estate is situated adjacent to the groundwater catchment area. An educational set-up of the wadi (see rough draft) kindled considerable enthusiasm. In the near future, this location will be used for water awareness education activities for primary school classes.

Lessons to be 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.
  • The collaboration is opening up new opportunities: not only does the project combat waterlogging, it is also fostering sustainable energy consumption. Celavita turned out to drain off warm water. This water will now be used for the sustainable heating of the adjacent swimming pool.

Contact person

E. van Leussen
Gemeente Oldebroek
evleussen@oldebroek.nl
06-57937211


Project type
Completed measure
Participant
Plukon, Celavita, Waterschap Vallei en Veluwe & Gemeente Oldebroek
Scale
Municipality
Theme
Drought, Waterlogging