Project Capabilities

Stormwater Management Design

We consult with our clients to clearly understand their needs, and explore possible stormwater management options.

Our goal is to provide high standard design and consultation to comply with local authority requirements. Issues often addressed include management of the environmental effects of stormwater runoff from development sites, protection of buildings from flooding and appropriate design of stormwater pipes and channels.

Low Impact Design and Water Sustainable Urban Design

We believe low impact design is an environmentally friendly approach to manage the rain water runoff from our land to our streams, rivers and oceans. Water sustainable design focuses on the enhancement of water resource to the benefit of the urban environment. As such we pursue a low impact design philosophy throughout our projects to enhance the natural resources available and tailor low impact design to suit each individual development, where ever possible.

Our low impact development principles will reduce peak flow volumes and minimise contaminants by using specifically designed features or devices such as retention of natural drainage channels and vegetation, minimisation of impervious areas and in some circumstances reduced use of pipes. -

Rain Water Re-use

We promote the sustainable advantages of rain water re-use. Our project experience ranges from rain tank design for residential dwelling to a commercial harvesting feasibility study for a 10 ha roof catchment.

Hydrologic and Hydraulic Modeling

Specific projects include modelling peak flows from impervious areas that can cause flooding or erosion downstream, predicting increases in total volume of runoff from development sites and estimating decreases in base flows in streams leading to poor habitat and ecology.

We use modelling software HEC Ras, MOUSE, HEC HMS and MIKE URBAN to predict overland flows and flood hazards in rainfall event scenarios with a key outcome being the prediction of overland flows and flood hazards in the case of an extreme rainfall event.

We also programme Microsoft Office Excel Spreadsheet to predict annual rainfall capture in rainwater storage devices and to estimate the long term water saving by rainwater re-use.

Flood Risk Assessment

We have in-depth project experience in analysis of rain water runoff. We complete comprehensive catchment and site analysis to determine potential flood risk assessment in association with the development, within or adjacent to the designated overland flow path and flood plain, including formal identification on site of areas at risk.

We assess the possibility of future development within the existing overland flow path and the associated mitigation measures required for such development.

Financially responsible design

Environmentally sustainable design is often the most cost effective approach to stormwater management however the best practical application for an individual site, or development, needs to meet commercial constraints. The stormwater management solutions

We pride ourselves in ensuring that the best practical design considers the financial constraints of the land owner and developer.

Resource and building consent applications

We provide information in support of resource consent applications for a wide range of projects. We have applied for resource consents on behalf of the client as well as information in support of applications made by planners for large complex projects.

Building consent applications made by the client and/or architects require stormwater management information which we supply for the design carried out by ourselves. We liaise with all parties, including council staff, to ensure that all information is understood to the intent of the design.

Innovative Solutions for unusual or unexpected residential stormwater issues

We have successfully designed many non-standardised stormwater management systems for private property owners who were initially facing a costly or even a no-go situation for their proposed developments due to unexpected constraints for their stormwater discharge.

Some examples of these include:

Existing stormwater connections are to the public sewer and new regulations require that a new connection be to a public stormwater network
The home owner has no option but to pump stormwater uphill to an existing piped network. This is no longer an option considered by council however we successfully negotiated with a senior council official and made it work in a recent project
There is no stormwater network to connect to so SSCL have designed non-standard discharge and dispersal outlets with a highly successful rate of approval by local authorities

Specialist Services

As our engineering staff specialise in Stormwater Engineering, we have completed projects that require depth of understanding, including;

Stream Ecological Value

We provide stream ecological value studies and design in-stream structures such as culverts that provide passage for the diadromous fish.

Expert Witness

We act as expert witness for resource consent applications that have progressed to both High Court and the Environment Court.

Stormwater Pump Station Design

We provide engineering designs for projects that require pump stations in order to discharge or deliver surface water. Often these projects are in low lying areas that have experienced frequent inundation problems.

Recourse Management Act and Local Government Act

We consult with and act on behalf of clients across a broad range of projects that have dealt with both the Resource Management Act and the Local Government Act .

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