What Is A Pumped Drainage System & How Do They Work? 

The principle of a pumped drainage system is to enable foul water, surface water and sewage to be efficiently and economically removed in areas of low gravity, or where it may otherwise be difficult to achieve a connection to the main drain. 

Sewer pipes tend to rely on gravity for the movement of waste water, with fluid being allowed to move gradually downhill until it reaches a low point. From here, a pumped drainage system is routinely used to pump the waste water back uphill, until it reaches a high point at which gravity can once again help the water along on its journey. 

The pumped drainage system therefore tends to be situated underground, with foul, surface water or sewage being discharged into it, and the fluid then being pumped through a discharge pipe to the main sewer. 

The Importance Of The Right Drainage System

There are many reasons why you may conceivably invest in a pump station at your property – such as it being a more cost-effective alternative to the groundworks that may be required to allow sewage to flow by gravity, or a gravity system not having even been built.

However, with basement floors often being too low to even enable sewage to flow by gravity, it’s unsurprising that a lot of the enquiries we receive here at Pumping Solutions relate to the pumping of water from basements. 

It’s been a long time, after all, since basements and cellars were almost always expected to be dark and damp places – fit for the storage of food and wine, perhaps, but not much else. Today, amid the ever-escalating price of land that is causing many property owners to ‘improve rather than move’, these spaces below ground level are frequently being converted into living areas in their own right.

A lot of the people who approach us about having a pumped drainage system fitted for their basement are anticipating the daily use of this part of their property as kitchen or even bedroom spaces. This necessitates careful thinking about the adequacies – or otherwise – of the current drainage system, and what would happen in the event of a flood. 

Floods seem to be hitting the headlines more and more in recent years amid ongoing climate change and increasingly extreme weather events. We therefore wouldn’t wish you to be anything less than completely prepared against the risk of floods, which can cause so much damage and in the most extreme cases, even homelessness. 

How We Can Help You With Your Basement Drainage

Existing drainage systems in basements can naturally differ from one property to the next. A typical arrangement in many Victorian properties, however, is a gully pot being situated in a light well or at the base of an external stairwell, with the gully running to the sewer. 

If, though, a blockage occurs in your system between the cellar gully and the outfall into the sewer, flooding could happen quickly, with excess sewage and waste water first becoming visible in the cellar gully, due to this being the lowest part of your system. 

Investing in the right system for pumping water from your own basement, then, could be crucial for ensuring water doesn’t penetrate into areas of this space where it shouldn’t, whether through the cellar walls or by coming up through the basement floor. 

Whether your property is a domestic or commercial one, here at Pumping Solutions, we can assist you in the creation of a pumped drainage system that will ensure the fuss-free removal of waste water from your premises, while greatly minimising the chances of unwelcome water ingress.