Dewatering Techniques & Benefits in The Building Sector
The process of dewatering is the removal of surplus water from solid materials or rock surfaces. Dewatering is used to remove excess water from surfaces such as marshes, foundation trenches, and fields with a high water table. Different procedures are utilised in various dewatering methods, and they are as follows:
- Filtration
- Centrifugation
- Wet classification
Dewatering: Why Is It Necessary?
- It facilitates the efficient flow of building operations by providing dry digging ground.
- By minimising lateral load or resistance, it makes sheeting and bracing easier.
- By cutting off the capillary rise, it eliminates piping and icing in pavements.
- It lowers the air pressure in tunnels during operation.
- Dewatering slopes and side-hill fills prior to excavation improves their strength and stability.
- It improves the foundation materials’ supporting properties.
Dewatering Techniques
There are a variety of dewatering technologies used in the building sector all around the world. These are some of them:
The system of deep wells
This procedure entails utilising a case to bore a hole between 17 and 73 centimetres in diameter. A lengthy screen and a submersible pump are utilised to lift the water in this example. This approach is commonly used for excavations deeper than 17 metres below the water table.
The Wellpoint system is a method that allows you to keep track of
This approach uses a perforated flow with a length of 0.5 to 1 m and a diameter of 7 to 10 cm, and it is based on the gravity flow concept. A cylindrical wire gauge and a suction pump are also used. The suction pump extracts water from a maximum depth of 7 metres and pumps it to the surface. A excellent multistage system is employed if the water depth below the water table exceeds 7 metres.
System for Vacuum Dewatering
The vacuum dewatering system is similar to the wellpoint method, but it uses a suction head to offer improved results in fine non-adhesive soils like clay. The use of airtight sealing on all points of the pipes to maintain a vacuum is another feature that sets this method apart from the wellpoint system.
Sumps and Ditches
This is the most basic approach now in use, and it is widely used for shallow and coarse-grained soils. Sumps or pits are dug in this system, and the excess water is collected utilising the side that is currently under gravity. After that, the water is pumped out.
Dewatering by electro osmosis
This type of dewatering uses both electrolysis and osmosis, and it’s excellent for fine-grained cohesive soils. It entails transporting soil water from the positive electrode to the negative electrode between electrodes. A pipe, sheet pile, or steel rod can serve as the positive electrode, while a metal hose or a well can serve as the cathode.
Dewatering’s Advantages
When working on a building project in a water-logged environment, dewatering is critical. The following are some of the most significant advantages of dewatering:
- It improves slope stability by allowing supporting structures to be built on them.
- It aids in the regulation of hydrostatic pressure and seepage.
- It is used to fortify soil layers and improve the effective weight of the soil.
- The lateral stress on the sheeting and bracing is reduced.
- It makes it possible to excavate and construct in a dry environment.
Conclusion
Dewatering is a construction technique that allows excavation and construction to take place at natural ground level. It is employed by numerous fuel system repair and installation businesses, including The PSA Group. Depending on the project requirements and current environmental conditions, various dewatering processes are used. In this post, we’ve highlighted a few of the most frequent approaches.