Keeping Ahead of the Flood with Construction Dewatering

Many people are surprised to learn that there is essentially a massive “swimming pool” beneath their feet. Start digging a hole and, depending on where you are, water will start to percolate in once you get below the first couple of meters. In extreme cases, like in sand and gravel formations, it can appear to be a so-called “underground river”, but more often than not the groundwater flow rate ranges from leaky tap to garden hose. Regardless of the flow rate that water needs to be managed. When construction involves excavating below the water table groundwater management becomes a critical component of Construction Projects and can cause a lot of grief if overlooked.

Groundwater issues commonly bubble to the surface in the midst of construction in the form of higher-than-expected groundwater infiltration rates or contaminant issues that put you off-side with Municipal sewer by-laws and site discharge agreements. These days, it doesn’t seem to matter if you’re developing a Brownfield or a Greenfield site; heavy rainfall events will still require sediment removal (at a minimum), and ubiquitous, naturally-occurring metals like manganese can lead to groundwater quality issues. Nathan Lichti presented a talk on this topic during the virtual SMART Remediation event held earlier this year.

One of the Many Frac Tanks and Filter Skids in our Construction Dewatering and Treatment Toolbox

Vertex has been involved in water treatment for remediation and construction sites for many years now. One of the most frequent questions we get asked is: “Can you do dewatering too?” Well, the answer is yes! and we wanted to spend a bit of time highlighting how our dewatering services go hand-in-hand with water treatment and the remediation of Brownfield sites.

Clients usually end up hiring one company for dewatering and a separate company for water treatment and then have to coordinate on-going site visits with both contractors. This is an unnecessary hassle. Although these tasks require somewhat different skill sets, efficiencies can be had by hiring one firm that can handle both the dewatering and water treatment in ways that saves clients time and money.

Over the past year, we have ramped up our efforts to be able to offer comprehensive construction dewatering services. David Munro recently joined our team and brings with him extensive experience in the installation and troubleshooting of dewatering systems. We’ve also continued to invest in the necessary equipment, such as wellpoint dewatering systems, deep well pumps, and frac tanks to be able to fully support groundwater management from start to finish. These dewatering technologies also go hand-in-hand with enhanced gradient or recirculation in-situ remediation programs, as discussed in previous newsletters.

Schematic of Deep Well and Wellpoint Dewatering Systems

Learn more about the different dewatering technologies available for your site.