Amanda Mills from Saniflo discusses how pumps can facilitate water discharge from bathrooms and washrooms in a modular building when gravity drainage is not possible – or commercially viable
Modular buildings have never been so popular. For domestic, commercial and public purposes, adopting offsite constructed buildings is a trend that looks set to stay. Even the NHS has got in on the act through its Shared Business Services modular construction framework. Its scheme culminates in July 2023 after four years and will – most likely – be extended given the backlog in patient care and the pressures on the health service’s finances.
Modular offers solutions for many situations, including where there is limited onsite space, squeezed budgets and pressing deadlines. Given that offsite construction is typically 50% faster than standard onsite construction and up to 35% cheaper, as well as the fact that buildings can be rented rather than bought, not only can the modular route help to alleviate financial pressures for the health service, but also for other public sector services – such as education – who have access to the same scheme.
Waste water pumping solutions
There’s no compromise either on the fixtures and fittings. It’s possible to kit out a modular building to the very same level as a traditional building. Thanks to the availability of waste water pumping solutions, it’s possible to install bathrooms, washrooms, kitchens – any space requiring a water discharge – even when gravity drainage is not accessible.
The choice of pumps today is so vast that there is a solution for the most complicated drainage challenges. During the Covid pandemic NHS Trusts installed welfare cabins into many hospital car parks as changing room facilities for staff to use before and after shifts; ensuring scrubs were clean on entry to the wards and packed in bags ready for washing at the end of the day. These temporary modular units were equipped with bathroom facilities, including shower cubicles, WCs and lockers for staff belongings. Wastewater was discharged through light commercial macerators neatly installed into store cupboards at the back of the units to mains drains.
Surface mounted lifting stations
Modular buildings are typically raised off the ground which makes it easy to deploy surface mounted lifting stations as the waste can easily flow into the stations under gravity. These stations are powerful enough to take waste from the whole building with the potential to pump hundreds of metres away to the most convenient sewer entry point. In addition, the ground does not need to be excavated meaning installation is not only faster and more cost effective, but the lifting station can easily be removed once the project is finished – without causing damage to the outside ground surface.
During the pandemic a number of temporary Nightingale hospitals were erected around the country in anticipation of huge demand. As well as exhibition centres being converted, onsite modular buildings with full bathroom facilities were installed on hospital sites using surface mounted pumps as the temporary drainage solution.
Permanent modular buildings for multiple public sector applications have been well adopted since the introduction of the NHS Shared Business Services model. School classrooms, clinics, wards, staff accommodation with full ensuite bathroom facilities will now often be constructed off-site and craned into position. And very often it is an underground pumping station that will be servicing any water discharge. With multiple connections, an underground pump can be unobtrusively installed outside the building and connected through small bore pipework to the sewer. A manhole-style cover flush to the ground offers access to the pump for routine maintenance and servicing. Similar units are being used with high degrees of success to take waste from the bathrooms and kitchens of modular buildings in the glamping and leisure sector.
In many cases, the use of all-in-one shower cubicles in the bathrooms is no coincidence. In the case of the NHS, space saving and time-saving shower cubicles were widely used as the most rapid solution to install a working shower in just a few hours. An integrated tray, internal panels that slot over the tray upstands, external panels and all shower fittings were supplied in a single package; minimising procurement time. Installed off-site, the cubicles are labour-saving during the installation process and provide an easy clean, minimal maintenance solution.
The leak-free units have no tiles, grout or silicone to maintain; instead, all water runs off the internal panels, which are coated with anti-limescale treatment, into the shower tray and out through the
integrated waste.
Cubicles are particularly suited to modular buildings thanks to ease of installation, but also if the building is constructed in timber the shower cubicle has an element of give, enabling it to move with the timber – which naturally warps and shifts over time.
Amanda Mills is marketing manager at Saniflo