Hydraulic and earth engineering – Drainage or irrigation – Porous or apertured pipe – flume – or tileway
Patent
1994-11-14
1996-09-24
Neuder, William P.
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Drainage or irrigation
Porous or apertured pipe, flume, or tileway
47 62, 47 17, E02B 1300
Patent
active
055584616
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a system for collecting water from a surface which is covered by a waterproof membrane, whereby tubular gutters are installed in trenches in the surface adjacent to the margins of the waterproof membrane and whereby the surface is slightly sloped such that water on the membrane will flow in a natural manner in the direction of a gutter, each tubular gutter comprising apertures through which water may enter the gutter.
A system of this type is described in the German Gebrauchsmuster DE 8804852. This prior art system is especially destined for use at the bottom of a waste disposal dump. In such applications, one has to take care that no solids will reach the inside of the gutter whereas any fluid seeping through the mass of solid waste has to be collected on the membrane on the bottom of the dump and should flow from there through the apertures into the tubular gutter. For that purpose the apertures are embodied as relatively small apertures aligned in two rows each in one side wall of the gutter just above connection ridges or flaps extending from the respective side wall and destined to become attached to the marginal section of the membrane at the respective side of the gutter. The top half of the gutter is closed to avoid entrance of any solids.
The invention is not directed to systems for use underground such as the above-mentioned system, but is directed to systems for use at ground level.
Other systems are also known from the state of the art, for instance for application in sports areas, tennis courts, etc. Examples thereof are described in the German Patent DE 465,166 and in the European Patent Application EP 0 072 559. In all these systems, the waterproof membrane comprises a foil of plastic material, whereby separate drainage gutters or drainage tubes are used to receive water from this foil and to drain said water. In all these prior art systems the foil is furthermore covered with a top layer of soil, which may have a thickness of some tenths of centimeters and which gives the area the appearance of a tennis court, a football field or something like that.
In the German Patent DE 465,166 no further special measures are taken to obtain a watertight connection between the membrane and the drainage tubes. Therefore part of the water flowing along the waterproof membrane will not he received in the gutter but will penetrate into the ground. Furthermore, the prior art gutters are made in situ from stone or concrete and are therewith expensive and not relocatable.
In the European Application EP 0 072 559 there is no separate gutter. In stead, the gutter is formed by positioning the marginal section of the membrane in a gutter-shaped trench or excavation, which is made specially for that purpose. Because in that way the gutter lining is made from the marginal section of the membrane itself, this membrane should he relatively thick and stiff for that purpose to maintain its shape during further use and to assure a certain degree of form stability. However, thick and stiff membranes are hard to handle especially when it comes to covering a preshaped land area with a relatively broad length of such a membrane. Moreover, it seems practically impossible to use this last-mentioned method for obtaining a long gutter with a length of several hundred meters which has a continuous fall of for instance a few centimeters per hundred meter gutter length.
In plant growing farms, in which plants, shrubs, trees, etc. are grown outside in pots or in other containers, rainwater and sprinkle water which is not absorbed by the plants or by the soil in the pots or containers will reach the underlying soil and will penetrate therein. That will convert the soil to a muddy substance, especially in case of heavy rainfall or plenty of sprinkling water, deteriorating the working conditions for the grower. A more serious disadvantage resides in the fact that in general nutrients, pesticides or other substances will be added to the sprinkling water. These additives will penetrate int
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Arvado Patent B.V.
Neuder William P.
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