It’s amazing what can be accomplished when a team of like-minded experts collaborate on a “first-of-its-kind” project. Wavin, alongside KRAH, Aquafin and were commissioned by Besix Infra to produce and construct a huge buffer basin to collect and retain the rain water around the playground in the Villermontstraat — for the municipality of Kontich in Belgium. Made entirely of plastic pipes, the basin has the capacity to collect a massive 840,000 liters of water!

The challenge - rain water retention and collection

The municipality of Kontich (in Belgium) needed a durable and dynamic solution to buffer the rain water around the playground in the Villermontstraat. The city needed a rainwater buffer to collect surplus water from the entire center area — to mitigate the challenge of heavy and long-term precipitation, so that excess rainwater can flow in a controlled manner to the water-sensitive area.

The solution - an example of how to future-proof a city

Two words: plastic pipes. The municipality decided on a design concept to create a gigantic buffer basin, made out of plastic pipes. The water will be collected in plastic pipes with a diameter of 2.4 meters. They are laid out in a construction pit of 55 meters long, 18 meters wide and 5 meters deep. It is the first time in Belgium that a buffer basin with plastic pipes has ever been built! Together, the plastic tubes will have a total length of 200 meters.

The water of the basin will be released to the Edegemsebeek, which is at a distance of 600 meters. To release the water to the Edegemesebeek gradually and controlled, a dam was placed between the buffer basin and the stream, to prevent the Edegemsebeek from overflowing. According to Public Works manager, Willem Wevers, "Next to the huge basin there are rain water retention solutions in multiple locations of the city centre — so excess water from the entire area can be collected, preventing water damage in the event of future heavy and prolonged rainfall periods. It’s a perfect example of future proofing the city by enabling controlled water release to the Edegemsebeek that is prone to flooding."

The team of experts

A project is only good as the sum of its parts. And for this challenging project, the team was impeccable. Rudy Van den Boogaert, the senior project engineer for PlaatserThermopol has worked with Wavin for decades. His group was responsible for pre-installation — providing materials and calculations — whilst Wavin was in charge of the construction and installation. It was a very smooth project with excellent collaboration. The team was proud of the fact that all expected delivery times were perfectly met — thanks to an exemplary collaboration.

KRAH pipes, made from virgin PE100 materials, were the ones used for this project. Wavin has been collaborating with KRAH since 2014 and so we thought they would be the ideal supplier for this project. The requirement was for a 980m3 rainwater attenuation tank (ID2400) and the plastic pipes all needed welded connections.

Most importantly, the contractor for the project, Jeroen De Beleyr of Besix Infra, was happy with the results. The logistics and technical implementation — together with all parties — were performed to everyone’s satisfaction. The construction of the basin is part of the full reconstruction of the Edegemsesteenweg. The work began in October of 2017 and should be concluded by September of 2018.

And, yes, team work makes the dream work. We are happy to have been part of such a project and even more so, since it is the first of its kind in Belgium!

About Wavin: Wavin is part of Mexichem, one of the biggest producers of plastic pipes and connections worldwide and one of the largest chemical and petrochemical companies in Latin America.
www.wavin.com