If you are tasked with maintaining or improving property, it’s important to keep water runoff under control. This is especially true where there is high water flow from parking lots or long driveways. Storm drains are meant to collect this water as well as the runoff from roofs and landscaping.
If a storm drain becomes clogged with leaves or debris, excess water can flood the property. This wastewater can easily become contaminated. Storm water management is an important part of water conservation.
Why Storm Water Is Important
Storm water is any weather precipitation – heavy rains or melting snow and ice – that’s too much to be absorbed by the earth. Storm water flowing from rooftops washes through driveways, parking lots, bare soil, lawns, gardens and many other places where there may be contaminants such as pesticides, fertilizers and household or automotive chemicals, as well as natural threats like mold and animal waste.
Storm water that can’t drain fast enough stagnates and will spread these pollutants over the property or neighborhood. Especially in time of serous rain storms, efficient drainage is essential or contaminated ground water, erosion and related health and environmental issues could result.
Especially in rural areas, storm drainage doesn’t necessarily lead to sewer pipes and water treatment plants. Often these lines simply drain into the nearest body of water, such as a lake or pond. It’s important that storm drains are properly cleaned and maintained to minimize pollution of local water sources.
Drain Maintenance
Property owners should inspect and clear their waste water drains every six months or more often if there has been a severe rain storm or large amounts of snow are beginning to melt. If a storm drain at a business backs up and floods the grounds, the owner could lose customers, suffer law suits from slips or falls or be fined by local authorities for presenting a health hazard.
Very often concrete companies are contracted to replace or repair these drains. They may be too small to provide adequate drainage, lack accessibility for proper cleaning, or in the case of older drains, have crumbled to become ineffective.
Cement Work
The right equipment is necessary to repair or replace damaged drains. Often it’s a case of having the right forms available to quickly pour and set concrete. New installation of storm drainage is also a frequent demand on construction companies.
There are always new businesses or new housing developments going up that require sufficient water drainage. It’s important to have the right tools and equipment, such as mixers that can be brought to worksites for more efficient construction.
Installing proper concrete drains to prevent flooding and contamination is a vital aspect of new construction. Del Zotto carries a wide array of products to boost the productivity of storm drain manufacture and the cement contracting industry. Contact us to learn more.