NL2022311B1

NL2022311B1 - Gulley

Info

Publication number: NL2022311B1
Application number: NL2022311A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Gerhard Nicolaas Schotanus Jacobus; Hendricus Van Nuland Franciscus; Cornelis Willemsen Johannes
Original assignee: Willemsen Infra B V; Gerhard Nicolaas Schotanus Jacobus; Hendricus Van Nuland Franciscus
Priority date: 2018-12-24
Filing date: 2018-12-24
Publication date: 2020-07-21
Also published as: EP3674493A1; EP3674493B1

Abstract

The application describes a gu||ey (100) comprising a gu||ey pot (102), an outlet (104) in a side wall of the gu||ey pot and a baffle (106). The baffle is configured to act as odour trap. The outlet is configured to couple the gu||ey to a sewer system and has an underside (104A) defining a normal outflow level Lnorm. The baffle has an underside (106A) defining a minimal liquid level Lmin to enable the baffle to act as odour trap. The gu||ey pot further comprises drainage outlets (108) having an underside (108A) defining an additional outflow level Ldrain, wherein Lm… < Ldrain S Lnorm. The drainage outlets enable the gu||ey to drain received liquid first to the ground around the gu||ey and only to release liquid to the sewer system when the liquid level exceeds the level Lnorm or a level defined by an insert part inserted in the outlet.

Description

GULLEY

TECHNICAL FIELD The subject disclosure relates to gullies for receiving storm water, usually collected from street surfaces, and discharging the storm water through an outlet in a rainwater sewer system.

BACKGROUND ART Gulley’s as described above are well known for collecting rain water or storm water in streets, sidewalks, gutters etc. and generally comprise a gulley pot, e.g. a plastic, cast-iron or concrete receptacle buried in the ground and comprising a bottom wall and a number of side walls. In a side wall of the gulley pot an outlet is positioned which is coupled to a sewer system. Water received in the gulley pot exits via the outlet to the sewer system. The drain is generally offset from the bottom wall. In the volume between the bottom wall of the gulley pot and the underside of the outlet, water and pollution (refuse, debris, leaves, sand, oil, etc. ...) can accumulate. A baffle extending to below the underside of the outlet serves as an odour trap and it may prevent pollution floating on the water from entering the sewer system.

NL1005621 discloses a drain sump for road gutters, comprising a concrete body and a cast iron connection into the concrete drain pipe. The cast iron connection is anchored by a flange into the sump body during moulding of the concrete of the sump body. The cast iron connection comprises a front chamber. In the cast iron connection a cast iron baffle for an odour trap may be installed such that it is rotatable.

EP2796628A1 discloses a gulley comprising a gulley pot, an outlet and a baffle. The baffle is attached to the gulley pot such that the baffle is movable between a first stable position with respect to the gulley pot in which position the baffle overlaps and covers the outlet and extends below an underside of the outlet and a second stable position with respect to the gulley pot in which position the outlet is substantially uncovered by the baffle.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION It is an object of the present technology to provide a gulley which supplies storm water only to the sewer system if more than a specific amount of water has entered the gulley pot in a particular short period of time and which reduces the need to expand the discharge capacity of the sewer system to prevent water problems during heavy rain shower due to climate changes.

According to an aspect of the subject technology, this object is achieved by a gulley having the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments and further ways of carrying out the present technology may be attained by the measures mentioned in the dependent claims.

A gulley according to the subject technology comprises a gulley pot, an outlet in a side wall of the gulley pot and a baffle configured to act as odour trap. The outlet is configured to couple the gulley to a sewer system and has an underside defining a normal outflow level Lym. The baffle has an underside defining a minimal liquid level Lmin to enable the baffle to act as odour trap. The gulley pot further comprises at least one drainage outlet having an underside defining a drainage outflow level Laan, wherein Lmin < Lgrain € Loom.

The concept of the present technology is to have a gulley which has an additional reservoir that is filed with an amount of storm water before substantially all further storm water is supplied to the sewer system. The additional reservoir drains the collected water as a reverse drainage system to the soil around the gulley. Thus before it's going to rain, the additional reservoir will normally be empty. Then the first storm water will be collected in the gulley pot. Due to evaporation of water in the gulley pot during the dry period, the water level will be below the level Laan. As soon as the liquid level will become higher than Larain liquid will flow through the at least one drainage outlet into the additional reservoir that is in fluid flow connection with the drainage outlet. The additional reservoir will almost immediately start draining the liquid in the additional reservoir. The liquid level in the gulley pot will start rising as soon as the liquid level in the additional reservoir becomes at the same level in the gulley pot. From that moment, substantially all storm water will flow away via the outlet into the sewer system. When it stops raining, the water in the additional reservoir will be release to the soil around the gulley pot till the reservoir is empty and the procedure above can be started again. In this way, it might be possible that during a small rainshower most storm water is released to the soil around the gulley pot and that only during heavy rain shower a considerable part of storm water is discharged through the outlet into the sewer system. When Laan is smaller than Lnom the inflowing storm water has to fill the additional reservoir first before some storm water will flow into the sewer system.

In an embodiment, the gulley further comprises an insert part configured to be inserted in the outlet and further configured to increase the liquid outflow level Loom for liquid in the gulley pot to the sewer system to a new outflow level Liew, wherein Lom < Loew. This feature allows one to reuse existing gullies without changing the specification of the baffle acting as strainer or odour trap, while providing the gulley the characteristic to discharge only liquid to the sewer system after the liquid level in the additional reservoir and gulley pot exceeds the new outflow level.

In a further embodiment, the outlet has a height H, and H/3 < (Ljew - Lom) < H/2. It has been found that an insert part which increases the outflow level of the gulley pot in the range H/3 — H/2 still provides the outlet enough outflow capacity to discharge enough storm water to the sewer system during heavy rain showers.

In an embodiment, the insert part is a removable part. This feature enables one to provide full access to duct coupled to the outlet for inspection and or cleaning.

In an embodiment, the gulley comprises a filter element positioned in each of the at least one drainage outlet. In a further embodiment, the filter element comprises a material that makes the filter element impermeable for oil and permeable for water. The filter element counteracts accumulation of dirt in the reservoir. The impermeability to oil reduces the risk of contamination of the soil around the gulley.

In an embodiment, the filter element further comprises a check valve arrangement configured to block liquid to flow through a drainage outlet into to gulley pot. These features prevent groundwater from flowing into the sewer via the gulley pot.

In an embodiment, the gulley further comprises a porous layer attached to at least one side wall of the gulley pot, wherein the porous layer extends across the at least one drainage outlet. The cavities in the porous layerfrom the reservoir and surfaces of water-filled porous layer that are contact with the soil drain liquid to the soil. In this way, the drainage surface to the soil is enlarged. In a further embodiment, the porous layer extends along a bottom wall of the gulley pot. This feature enlarges to surface being in contact with the soil and consequently the flow capacity to drain storm water to the soil. In an embodiment, the porous layer is a layer of pervious concrete. This feature provides a gulley with reservoir that can be applied in a similar way as existing gullies. In an embodiment, the filter element comprises pervious concrete, made of finer gravel than gravel of the porous layer. This feature has the advantage that when dirt is accumulated in the filter, the filter can be cleaned with a pressure washer. As the openings in the filter to pass water are smaller than the openings in the porous layer, when cleaning the filter the dirt particles accumulated in the filter will flow to the bottom of the porous layer and not accumulate at the level of the drainage outlet. In an embodiment, the porous layer has a thickness of at least 4 cm, more particular 6 cm. In an embodiment, outlet has a first radius and each of the at least one drainage outlet has a second radius, wherein the second radius is smaller than the first radius. In an embodiment, the gulley pot comprises in each side wall other than the side wall comprising the outlet one or more drain outlets. This feature enlarges the drainage flow capacity to drain water to the soil. In an embodiment, the gulley comprises drainage means coupled to the at least one drainage outlet, wherein the drainage means are configured to transfer liquid from the gulley pot to the ground around the gulley. In a further embodiment, the drainage means comprises at least one of: infiltration pipes, perforated ducts and infiltration box. These features allow enlarging the volume of the additional reservoir and/or the area to which the storm water is discharged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other aspects, properties and advantages will be explained hereinafter based on the following description with reference to thedrawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like or comparable parts, and in which: Fig. 1 shows schematically a sectional view of a first embodiment of a gulley; 5 Fig. 2 shows schematically a sectional view of a second embodiment of a gulley; Fig. 3 shows schematically a sectional view of a third embodiment of a gulley; Fig. 4 shows schematically a perspective view of a gulley pot according to the subject disclosure; Fig. 5 shows schematically a perspective view of a gulley pot provided with porous layer; Fig. 6 shows schematically a sectional view along VI-VI in Fig. 5; Fig. 7 shows schematically a sectional view along VII-VII in Fig. 6; and, Figs 8A and 8B show schematically a section view of two states of an embodiment of a filter element.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS It is noted that the drawings are schematic, not necessarily to scale and that details that are not required for understanding the present invention may have been omitted. The terms "upward", "downward", "below", "above", and the like relate to the embodiments as oriented in the drawings, unless otherwise specified or functionally required. Further, elements that are at least substantially identical or that perform an at least substantially identical function are denoted by the same numeral. Figs. 1 and 2 show a gulley 100 comprising a lid or cover grate 110 for collecting rain water or street cleaning water in streets, sidewalks, gutters etc. and a gulley pot 102 having an interior volume for receiving the water and associated pollution passing the cover grate 110. The gulley pot 102 comprises a bottom 102A and side walls 102B, a discharge outlet 104, at least one drainage outlet 108 and a drainage means 112. The drainage means 112 enables the water flowing through a drainage outlet 108 to be absorbed by the soil around thegulley. In Fig 1, the drainage means 112 is a porous layer which attached to the outside of one or more side walls 102B of the gulley pot 102.

The discharge outlet 104 is configured to be coupled to a drain piping of e.g. a storm water drainage system (not shown) and comprises a baffle assembly 106. The discharge outlet has an opening with a height H. Examples of baffle assemblies are known from NL100561C2 and NL2004578C. The baffle assembly 106 is configured to act as odour trap. In principle any arrangement configured to act as odour trap in a gulley could be used.

The drainage outlet 108 of the gulley forms a passage for water in the gulley pot 102 to the drainage means. In Fig. 1, the discharge outlet 104 has a water outflow level Loom that is defined by the underside 104A of opening of the discharge outlet 104. The drainage outlets 108 arranged at substantially the same height in the side walls 102B. The undersides of the outlets 108A define an additional outflow level Larain. The additional outflow level Lain is at a lower level than the normal level Lim. Furthermore, the baffle assembly 106 defines a level Lmin by the lower side 106A of the baffle. As long as the water level is above level Lmin , the baffle means 112 prevent escaping sewer odour from the storm water drainage system. It should be noted that the height difference between Laran and Lmin depends on the climate wherein the gulley is used. The height difference should be sufficient such that during dry periods, less water evaporates than is present in the pot between said two levels.

The drainage means 112 is a porous layer. In an embodiment, the porous layer has a thickness of at least 4 cm, and more particular 6 cm. In an embodiment the porous layer is a payer of pervious concrete. The porous layer may be obtained by a mixture of two or three component epoxy bonding mortar and gravel with a grainsize of 4-16mm. In another embodiment gravel with a grainsize of 4-12mm is used. Other mortars and gravel sizes might be used for obtaining the porous layer as long as the layer comprises sufficient cavities and passages between the gravel to pass the water from the drain outlet to the soil and to buffer an amount of water. The gulley according to the present technology functions as follows. Rainwater enters the gulley pot 102 through openings of the lid or cover grate 110. As soon as the water level is above the additional outflow level Ldrain rainwater leaves the gulley pot 102 through the one or more drain outlets 108 and passes the porous material of the drainage means 112 to the soiland the soil will absorb said rainwater. When the soil absorbs less water than is supplied via the one or more drain outlets 108, cavities in the porous material of the drainage means will be filled with water. As soon as the cavities below the additional outflow level Larain are filled with water, the water level in the gulley pot will rise. When the water level rises above the water outflow level Lior in Fig. 1 liquid will flow along the lower side of the baffle through the discharge outlet 104 into a sewer system or storm water drainage system. As long as the soil is not saturated, water will be extracted from the drainage means. In normal circumstances before it is going to rain, the cavities in the drainage means will be empty and form a buffer that could be filled relatively fast via the one or more drain outlets when it is going to rain. Furthermore, the volume in the gulley pot defined by the height difference Loom and Ldrain functions as additional buffer that has to be filled before water will be discharged from the gulley pot through the discharge outlet. Only during heavy rain showers, the absorbency of the soil, the buffer capacity of the drainage means and buffer capacity of the gulley pot defined by the height difference Loom — Larain Will not be sufficient to store and drain the water into the soil. In that case, water will leave the gulley via outlet 104 into the storm water drainage system. When it stops raining, the soil will absorb the water supplied by the drainage means and consequently the water level in the gulley pot will lower to the level Lagan. So, the volume of water in the gulley pot present between the levels Loom and Ldrain will be absorbed by the soil and the emptied corresponding volume is available as buffer for the next rain shower. The present technology enables the gulley to drain most of the rain water to the soil around the gullet and significantly reduces the amount of water that is drained via the storm water drainage system.

Fig. 2 shows schematically a sectional view of a second embodiment of a gulley according to the present technology. In this embodiment an existing gulley pot 102 used as part of a gulley according the present technology. The one or more drain outlets 108 are drilled in the side walls such that the lower side of the one or more drain outlets 108 is at substantially the same level as the lower side of the discharge outlet 104. This ensures that there is enough water in the gulley to prevent escaping of sewer odours from the storm water drain system over dry periods. Furthermore, porous material is arranged against sidewalls of the gulley pot 102 from the bottom up to a level above the drain outlets 108 to formthe draining means 112. An insert part 214 is positioned in the opening of the discharge outlet 104 to increase the outflow level from the gulley to the storm water drain system to level Liew. In this way, the discharge capacity of the drainage means 112 and soil around the gulley has to be used before rain water leaves the gulley via the discharge outlet 104. It should be noted that in this embodiment Larain = Lnom. To ensure that the discharge outlet 104 has enough outflow capacity the height of the insert is preferably smaller than H/2, wherein H is the diameter/height of the opening of the discharge outlet 104. In an embodiment to ensure that the outflow capacity via six drain openings is sufficient, the height of the insert (= Lnew - Larain) is larger than H/3 wherein H is the diameter height of the opening of the discharge outlet. In an embodiment, the diameter of the discharge outlet 104 is 125 mm and the diameter of the drain outlets 108 is 80 mm. lt is noted that other diameters might be used, however preferably the diameter is the drain outlets is smaller than the diameter of the discharge outlet.

Fig. 3 shows schematically a sectional view of a third embodiment of a gulley according to the present technology using an existing gulley pot 102 with another type of baffle assembly 306. The one or more drain outlets 108 are drilled in the side walls such that the lower side of the one or more drain outlets 108 is at substantially the same level as the lower side of the discharge outlet 104.

Furthermore, porous material is arranged against sidewalls of the gulley pot 102 from the bottom up to a level above the drain outlets 108 to form the draining means 112. An insert part 314 is positioned directly in the discharge pipe coupling the gulley to the storm water drain system to increase the outflow level of the existing gulley pot 102 to the new level Lrew.

Fig. 4 shows schematically a perspective view of a gulley pot 102 according to the subject disclosure. The gulley pot is obtained by drilling 6 drain outlets in an existing gulley pot. Therefore, the underside of the discharge outlet 104 is at the same level as the underside of the drain outlets. By placing an insert in the discharge outlet as described above, the outflow level into the storm water system could be increased while the existing baffle (not shown) could be used to provide the same odour trap as in the original gulley pot. Fig. 5 shows schematically a perspective view of the gulley pot in Fig. 4 provided with a porous layer forming the drainage means 112. It shows the discharge outlet 104 at one side wall of the gulley pot and six drain outlets 108. Two drain outlets at eachother sidewall of the gulley pot102. The diameter of the drain outlets 108 is preferably smaller than the diameter of the discharge outlet 104. The number and size of the drain outlets define the drain capacity water from the volume in the gulley pot 102 to the drainage means 112. The porous layer forming the drainage means 112 is applied against three side walls.

Furthermore, the porous layer extends below the bottom of the gulley pot 102. Fig. 6 shows schematically a sectional view along VI-VI in Fig. 5 and Fig. 7 shows schematically a sectional view along VII-VII in Fig. 6. In the embodiments described above, the discharge outlet 104 has a first radius and each of the drainage outlets have a second radius, wherein the second radius is smaller than the first radius.

In the embodiments described above, the opening in the gulley pot 102 forming the drain outlets 108 might be used to position a filter element.

The filter element is configured to prevent that the porous layer gets blocked by dirt that flows into the gulley.

The filter element could be a replaceable filter element.

In an embodiment, the filter element is made from pervious concrete obtained by a mixture of epoxy mortar and sand with a grainsize of 0,6 - 1,2mm.

The filter element is thus made of finer gravel than the gravel of the porous layer.

With such a filter only small particles could pass the filter element which would subsequently not form an obstruction in the cavities of the porous layer but will flow downwards in the porous layer.

The outside of the filter element might be cleaned by using a pressure washer and/or a vacuum cleaner.

Figs 8A and 8B show schematically a section view of two states of an embodiment of another embodiment of a filter element 800. Preferably, the filter element is a replaceable filter element.

The filter element 800 comprises a material 802 that is impermeable for oil and permeable for water.

Furthermore, the filter element 800 comprises a check valve arrangement which opens when water pressure in the gulley pot acting on the shutters is higher than the water pressure acting on the other side of the shutters and which closes when the water pressure acting on the other side of the shutters is higher than the water pressure acting on the side facing the inside of the gulley pot 102. The shutters prevent groundwater to flow into the gulley pot.

In this way, ground water is blocked to flow through the gulley into the storm water drainage system or sewer system that when the ground water level is higher than the level Lain .

In the embodiments described above, the drainage means 112 are a porous layer 112 attached to at least one side wall of the gulley pot and wherein the porous layer extends across at least one drainage outlet. Furthermore, it is shown that the porous layer might extend along a bottom wall of the gulley pot. In an embodiment the porous layer is a layer of pervious concrete. It might be clear that other materials can be used that have the characteristics of permeable for water and capacity to store temporarily an amount of water to be absorbed by the soil abutting the porous layer. Furthermore, the material of the layer should be strong enough to withstand the pressure of the soil acting on the outer surface of the layer. In an embodiment, the drainage means is a plastic tray with reinforcement ribs in which the gulley is placed and where the outer wall is perforated. The reinforcement ribs function as spacers between the outer wall and gulley pot. The space between the outer wall and the gulley pot forms the cavity to buffer rain water before it is absorbed by the soil surrounding the gulley pot.

In an alternative embodiment, the drainage means configured to transfer water from the gulley pot to the ground around the gulley. For example at least one of: infiltration pipes, perforated ducts and infiltration boxes could be coupled to the drain outlets. The pipes or tubes might be twisted around the gully pot. In another embodiment, the pipes or tubes extend horizontally or slope downward away from the gulley pot to enlarge the ground surface that could absorb directly water coming from the gully pot. In these embodiments, the space in the tubes will function as buffer to store temporarily rain water before it is absorbed by the soil around the tubes or pipes.

It is contemplated that alternatives, modifications, permutations and equivalents thereof will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the specification and upon study of the drawings. The invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments. Changes can be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

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Claims

CONCLUSIONS:

A gully (100) comprising a gully pit (102), an outlet (104) in a side wall of the gully pit and a baffle (106) configured to act as an odor trap, the outlet configured to connect the gully to a sewer system system and has a bottom (104A) that defines a normal outflow level Liorm, and wherein the baffle has a bottom (106A) that defines a minimum liquid level Lmin to enable the baffle to act as an odor trap; characterized in that the gully basin further comprises at least one drainage outlet (108) having a bottom side (108A) defining an additional outflow level Laan, where Lin <Ldrain £ Loom.

The gully of claim 1, wherein the gully further comprises an insert (204) configured to be inserted into the outlet and further configured to increase the liquid outflow level Lom for liquid in the gully to the sewer system to a new outflow level Lnew , where Laorm <Lnew.

Gully according to claim 2, wherein the outlet has a height of H, and wherein H / 3 <(Loew - Loom) <H / 2.

Vortex according to any of claims 2 to 3, wherein the insert is a removable portion.

The gully of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the gully includes a filter element positioned in each of the at least one drainage outlet.

The gully of claim 5, wherein the filter element comprises a material that is impermeable to oil and permeable to water.

The gully of any of claims 5 to 6, wherein the filter element further comprises a check valve arrangement configured to block fluid from flowing through a drainage outlet into the gully basin.

The gully of any of claims 5-7, wherein the gully further comprises a porous layer (112) attached to at least one side wall of the gully box, the porous layer extending across the at least one drainage outlet. .

The gully according to claim 8, wherein the porous layer extends along a bottom wall of the gully well.

Gully according to any of claims 8-9, wherein the porous layer is a layer of permeable concrete.

Vortex according to claim 10, wherein the filter element consists of permeable concrete made of finer gravel than gravel of the porous layer.

Vortex according to any of claims 8-11, wherein the porous layer has a thickness of at least 4 cm, more in particular 6 cm.

The gully of any of claims 1 to 12, wherein outlet (108) has a first jet and each of the at least one drainage outlet has a second jet, the second jet being smaller than the first jet.

The chamber of any of claims 1 to 13, wherein the chamber in each side wall other than the side wall comprising the outlet (104) includes one or more drainage outlets.

The gully according to any of claims 1 to 14, wherein the gully comprises drainage means coupled to the at least one drainage outlet, the drainage means being configured to transfer liquid from the gully pit to the soil surrounding the gully.

Gulley according to claim 15, wherein the drainage means comprises at least one of the following: infiltration pipes, perforated channels and infiltration box.

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