There are three terms that are important to differentiate: sewer, sewage and sewerage. The wastewater that comes from people’s sinks, toilets, bathrooms and manholes from businesses and homes down into a public or private collection system is called sewage. A sewer is a pipe or channel often placed underground carrying sewage from points of collection or sources to treatment facilities. Sewerage refers to the whole system composed of sewers, manholes or collection points, pumping stations as well as treatment plants. A sewerage system is very important component of the infrastructure of any society often managed at local state or community level. At Francsoft Construction Company, we’re experts at designing different sewerage system components including manholes, home sinks and toilets and drainage systems, public or private sewers and so on. Here are nine tips to constructing a proper sewerage system.

1. Properly Involve Local Communities

Whereas most people involved in construction place this as the last step, at Francsoft Construction Company we believe this should be the first one. Remember that local communities are the USERS of the sewerage system and its components. So be sure to design and construct it after considering and upholding their expectations.

2. Undertake Master Planning Considering Future Capacity Growth

Most sewerage systems are designed and constructed improperly because they fail to consider future growth of capacity brought about by population growth. When such occurs, about 30 years on, when population growth, urban expansion and increased water usage has happened, sewerage systems begin to experience serious issues. Such issues include lacking place to dispose additional volumes of sewage and common leaks caused by siltation of the solid components because of poor flow rates. When such systems are overrun because of the said issues, they become a menace to any local community or state. Upgrading them is often expensive and downtimes equally costly.

3. Undertake Comprehensive Site Evaluation

You need to perform good geotechnical surveys, soil analyses and evaluation of ground water levels to construct good sewerage. Remember that environmental factors such as terrains and soil properties like erosion or corrosion determine the right pipes and materials to use. Also, they determine the optimal routes with the best flow rates to place the whole system and avoid siltation. Protecting our ground water from sewage leakages is our responsibility as humans and avoiding where they occur is better if it is possible. Otherwise, one can use optimal materials and design with the right master planning.

4. Be Sure to Use Gravity Optimally

Pumping sewage that has stalled or has almost zero flow rate can be very costly to a state or local community. Also, it presents the problem of siltation or sedimentation of solids present in it. As such, it is important to design the sewerage system from an uphill direction towards collection points downhill used for treatment and other management or use purposes. Doing so lowers the maintenance costs, downtime and pumping expenditure that can otherwise scale high up, as mentioned.

5. Select Corrosion-Resistant and Durable Materials

Remember that sewerage systems last for many years in a local community or state until they are upgraded or redone. Therefore, ensure that you select the right materials that can outlast the test of time. Concrete go with something like epoxy-coated option and other durable options and pipes choose polyvinylchloride (PVC) or high density polyethylene (HDPE) or similar others. Also, joints require being water tight so proper wielding or gaskets that meet this requirement are necessary. All these actions and more ensure the whole system does not leak sewage out nor does the ground water present enter it.

6. Ensure Minimum Self-Cleaning Velocity is Attained

To ensure that all pipes and drainage channels are able to self-clean and avoid siltation or sedimentation, ensure that a minimum velocity of 0.6 to 0.7 meters per second is attained on the bare minimum. This goal is achieved through having a minimum gradient of 0.4% or 1:250 ratio for all pipes relative to the house ground. Keeping the solids present suspended in the liquids is necessary to avoid blockages caused by siltation or sedimentation processes. This way, you can have less maintenance work to do optimizing costs to be incurred.

7. Design Good Access Points

Designing and constructing strategic access points allows not only easy access to the system but also reduces the downtime required or when it is not functioning due to maintenance requirement or technical issues. To this end, have all manholes, inspection chambers and cleanouts placed at good positions like key junctions or where pipes change diameter or direction. Therefore, you can be sure that remote inspections using cameras or other automation systems will be effective. Also, it will be quick to do away with any blockages and routine checkups without having to deploy system backups such as sewage carrying trucks that can be expensive.

8. Have a Comprehensive Maintenance and Operations Plan

For the sake of ensuring that a sewerage system lasts many years like 30 years or more, it is important to have a good plan on how to maintain and operate it. In this plan, it is good to budget for emergency repairs and how to replace it in the future. Also, one must plan for all scheduled routine cleanups and inspections. Keeping schematics for the design of the sewerage system up to date is necessary to know where each and every component is placed.

9. Ensure Good Environmental and Safety Plan

Concluding this list is yet another component that should have actually come first or second. Environmental safety when it comes to handling sewage is a very critical issue that is mostly hotly debated. The cost of having a sewerage system to the environment is great especially when leaks occur or ground water enters it. It is both a health and environmental hazard when it is not properly designed, constructed, maintained and operated. Train all personnel involved to use the right personal protective equipment (PPE) and maintain or operate it well. Also, the materials you use for construction must be non-toxic to the environment and people. Thanks for reading!!