How to Build a Drainage Mound

CM are finding more and more sites where discharging to a running ditch, watercourse or underground drainage field is not an option, and we are having to design more drainage mounds to find a solution for our customers. If a percolation test is undertaken, and the ground is found to be unsuitable for a drainage field or borehole soakaway ie too wet, too impermeable etc, AND there is nowhere suitable nearby to send the flow, then a drainage mound becomes the only solution. Because of increasing wet weather in recent years, drainage mounds are fast becoming a common solution.

At a very basic level, drainage mounds are an above ground version of a drainage field. Instead of gravity falling to an underground installation, the discharge is pumped up via a pumping station, to ground that is built up, and fitted with a system of perforated pipes and specialist filtration materials in layers to efficiently and safely drain away. The size of the drainage mound is carefully calculated based on whether it is receiving flow from a septic or packaged sewage treatment tank and the anticipated flow rates from them. CM design these to BR478 standard.

A Drainage Mound installation at Buxton, and another at Welwyn, shows the detail and material that goes into the mound. There are ways to landscape and disguise a drainage mound to make them a feature in a garden as opposed to an eyesore. Below is a finished drainage mound landscaped to blend in naturally.

If you need more information regarding drainage mounds, CM would happily be on hand to help. Just give us a ring to discuss. 0115 6848356