A lesson on Waterloc

St Edmund Campion School

17 July 2006

Newly built St Edmund Campion School is helping the environment and benefiting from Waterloc, a stormwater management system from Marley Plumbing and Drainage.

The new Roman Catholic secondary school accommodates just under a thousand pupils and provides education for children aged between 11 and 18. The original green field site in Gateshead has been transformed into a thriving school with the help of constructors Miller Construction and Coupe Construction.

The Waterloc system specified at the site is 500m³ in size and uses a method of attenuation. This system is based on the principle of the temporary storage of surface water in the Waterloc installation below ground level. The design has a 400mm diameter pipe running through the middle to enable a controlled discharge of water into a surface water or combined drainage system.

Miller Construction

Richard Dixon from Miller Construction comments, "The increase in flooding and climate change demands a different approach to stormwater management. The Waterloc system is a sensible addition to St Edmund Campion School and any new build. The drainage system replicates natural drainage patterns therefore clearly benefiting the environment."

Waterloc is a strong and lightweight honeycomb design of extruded polypropylene. These columns are uniquely combined with injection-moulded grids to provide both vertical and horizontal water flow. As well as attenuation, infiltration and rainwater harvesting Waterloc systems are available. Infiltration steadily releases the water gathered in the cell through a permeable membrane to replenish ground water levels, whilst a rainwater harvesting system recycles rainwater for non-potable applications such as toilet flushing. Each Waterloc cell can hold a volume of 250 litres, a heavy-duty version of Waterloc is available for deeper installations (Waterloc HD).