What is Dewatering?
Every construction company needs to be prepared for all kinds of contingencies. Even with the many safety precautions done within site, accidents can happen anytime without notice. An example would be working in the rain. When the rain pours down hard, they need to check the excavation site if it’s flooded with water. Excavation sites are always filled with gravel and mud, adding runoff water to the mix is dangerous.
This term might be new to some since it’s not commonly discussed by many, but dewatering is a method of pumping out surface or groundwater from a work site. The process involves pumps and is usually carried out before an excavation process takes place. The dewatering process is also done to lower the water table to prevent it from interfering with the excavation. An excavation company usually hires professionals from companies like Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment to get the dewatering process done efficiently.
Why the Need for Dewatering?
In some cases, construction worksites have accumulated water in excavation sites and trenches. When left unchecked, the accumulated water can cause several work areas to be inaccessible because of flooding. The work areas need to be free of water to perform dry site construction, so controlling, managing, and removing water is critical.
Once the process is finished, construction workers can safely work on the site and continue without any problems or delays. Dewatering is also essential to provide workers with a dry surface area and eliminate muddy surfaces that may cause accidents and injuries. Normally, construction workers use water pumps to dewater their work areas. If not done correctly, the dewatering process may cause erosion and other problems, which can be detrimental to the construction process. This is the perfect time to contact experts like Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment to ensure no problems will happen during the dewatering process.
The Different Ways of Dewatering
It’s beneficial to know the different kinds of dewatering processes for specific areas in a construction site.
- Wellpoint System – This method drills the wells around the perimeter of the excavation area with submersible pumps installed in the well shaft. The pumps are attached to a header pipe, letting groundwater to be drawn up to the pumps into the Wellpoints and disposed of.
- Open Sump Pumping – This is the simplest form of a dewatering technique, where groundwater is pumped into the excavation site and then removed in sumps and sucked out to be disposed of. Each sump has a robust pump that is efficient enough to handle solid debris.
- Deep Wells – This dewatering technique is used to pump out large volumes of groundwater. The deep well system has one or more individual wells wherein each well has its submersible pump at the bottom of the well.
- Eductor System – This method is almost identical to the wellpoint system. The only distinction between the two is that the eductor system uses high-pressure water in the riser units rather than a vacuum to remove water from the wellpoints.
If you happen to be handling a construction firm in Australia and need an efficient dewatering process, look for companies like Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment to get the best service. Eliminate future problems by investing in dewatering services, especially in sites prone to flooding and water accumulation. You can never go wrong hiring experienced professionals to do the job.
