There are many things that you reflect on when it’s raining. The heaviness of the rain, the pretty rainbow that follows and perhaps if you are a homeowner; I hope the my roof won’t leak!
One thing few of us think about is “where does all that water disappear to once it leaves the roof?” It’s not like it spills around the house because everything dries up nicely right after.
Little do we know that wastewater goes through a long journey each time we sit in the window and watch the rain go down. Nor do we think about the implications of this wastewater not being dealt with correctly, or how expensive it can be to fix these issues.
The Difference Between Waste Water Types
The first thing that you should know is that wastewater is not the same everywhere. There are actually two types of wastewater going into our sewers. The first one is foul water sewage that contains dirty water from toilets, showers, kitchen drains, and so on.
The second, and the one that concerns us, is the surface water sewers. This one can take two paths: it is either saved by the owner of the house, or it can be carried into the sewers.
Rainwater is nothing like the dirty water that we flush down the toilet; it can actually be used to tend to things around the house (for instance, water the flowers, and so on). For this, the water will flow into the gutter, through a pipe, and then a container that the owner set to collect the rainwater.
The second course is as follows: it goes back to where it comes from. Essentially, harmless rainwater is carried to soakaways and rivers. Just like in the circumstance above, the water goes from the roof into the gutter, and then it’s connected to the natural water flows.
There are also combined sewers that will carry both rainwater and foul water; however, this option is usually avoided, since it calls for unnecessary treatment. The newer developments prefer to separate the two, also to avoid overflowing the sewage system.
It’s important to understand what kind of system the property you own or are thinking about buying has, and to have it inspected thoroughly to ensure there are no defects. Any kind of leaks or weaknesses in the system can lead to costly damage to other areas of the property.
Cleaning The Water
Depending on how dirty the water is, it will be sent into two different treatment places. Foul water will obviously go through more processing to get rid of the dirt. However, even if rainwater is clear, it will still need to go through some cleaning before it’s released.
Think about it: at some point, debris will start gathering on your roof – which will eventually dirty the water. Once it goes into the gutter, down the pipe, and into the sewer, it will eventually all be collected into a settlement tank, where the water is cleaned of all the solid matter.
If your roof has a leak, then it’s the dirty water that will seep through the leak and into your home. To avoid having this costly issue occur, it’s important to get an inspection done to identify such problems. This will allow you to arrange a roof repair before the rain starts to fall.