Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is Stormcell^®?

A. Stormcell^® is an extremely strong plastic honeycomb structure of 95% void ratio. It can be used within a surface water pipe system to provide a rainwater storage medium during storm events.

Q. Can Stormcell^® be used below roads or car-parking areas?

A. Yes, it can. The structure is extremely strong but is designed to take distributed loads and not point loads. The depth that the Stormcell^® is buried at dictates the maximum load that can be applied to it at surface level.

Q. What maintenance is required for a Stormcell^® system?

A. The system that the Stormcell^® blocks are used within is carefully designed to minimise any maintenance requirements. It is a patented system and consequently cannot be copied by our competitors. Low flows are carried within small diameter perforated pipes running beneath the blocks. This keeps grits and silts moving within the pipes and remote from the Stormcell^® blocks. In times of storm water egresses from the perforations which are positioned within the top of the pipes but this is relatively free from grits and silts. There are additional barriers to contamination of the blocks in the form of a layer of single size stone and a permeable membrane covering the tops and bottoms of the blocks. Ideally, a Downstream Defender^® hydrodynamic separator is also used upstream of the storage tank in order to remove the majority of grits and silts upstream of the system, thus providing an even greater buffer to any problems occurring.

Q. What size are the blocks?

A. The standard block size is 2400 mm (length) x 1200 mm (breadth) x 520mm (depth). They are also available as panels of depth 120 mm. The blocks can be cut on site should this prove necessary.

Q. How many perforated pipes are required?

A. The perforations must be of sufficient capacity to allow the peak flow to pass through them at an acceptable head of water upstream. Quite simply, we must be able to get the water to be stored out of the pipes and into the Stormcell^® storage tank. The head of water required to pass this flow rate through the perforations must be able to be contained within the upstream pipe system. In other words, water should not egress from the underground system until the storage tank is full.