Rainwater harvesting is regarded as a way of minimizing mains water consumption. This is something that is now being advocated by governments and many other organizations. It is true that harvesting rainwater can help in attenuating flood water flow. This means that you can hold some storm water that comes off your roof and allowing it to flow at a slower, controlled rate to the drain or soakaway.
In the past, attenuating flood required stand-alone holding tanks. In some instances, it is a requirement, especially for flood attenuation. Nowadays, there are different ways of preventing drains overflowing as a result of heavy downpours. With the prevalence of hard standings for parking, the situation is now worse with the storm run-off racing.
Dealing with Storage Tank Overflow
When you install a rainwater collection system, there are different ways to deal with overflow. For instance, you can allow the excess water to go to a soakaway or to the main drain. For the installer or homeowner, this is a matter of convenience. In fact, the main drain is simply the easiest option as you do not have to build a soakaway. Unfortunately, the connection to the main drainage is not always permissible. This makes the construction of a soakaway a must. For the water company and planner, a soakaway is an ideal solution. This is because it makes for less rainwater getting into the local drains. To construct a soakaway, you need the right soakaway crates. You can get them here at reasonable price.
It is advisable to calculate the amount of water you are likely to receive during heavy rain seasons. For most developments, the amount of water they can hold temporarily can be thousands of liters. For a single home, the soakaway for attenuation is double the capacity of a rainwater tank. In addition, it ought to reach the impervious layers to ensure the water flows to the ground within a day. Also, it ought to be at least a few meters away from the storage tank.
It is a good idea to use rainwater as much as possible. Thus, you can have different combinations of storage tanks with proper attenuation products.