Overview:
Backwater valves are lot-level devices that can be installed on sewer laterals to protect against basement flooding resulting from sewer surcharge during heavy rainfall events. Despite an increase in adoption in recent years there are emerging reports regarding the failure of backwater valves under various conditions. In particular, the build-up of solids (or debris) in the backwater valve has been documented to adversely impact the performance of the device during surcharge events. This research applies an experimental approach to examine the performance of backwater valves by assessing the build-up of solids in the valve under various operating conditions.
Graduate student theses:
Dusolt, S. (2019). Evaluating the Performance of Backwater Valves as a Lot-Level Approach to Reduce Basement Flooding in Canadian Homes. Master’s of Applied Science thesis, School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada.
Link: https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/xmlui/handle/10214/15986
Journal articles:
Dusolt, S., Binns, A.D., McBean, E.A., Gharabaghi, B., Sandink, D. (to be submitted). An experimental investigation of maintenance requirements due to debris build-up in backwater valves installed on household sewer laterals. To be submitted to Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management.
Dusolt, S., Binns, A.D., McBean, E.A., Gharabaghi, B., Sandink, D. (2020). Characterization of backwater valves in sanitary sewer laterals and associated failures in a Canadian context. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, (ja).
Link: https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjce-2020-0026#.X2T5xmhKg2w
Irwin, S., Howlett, C., Binns, A.D., Sandink, D. (2018). Mitigation of Basement Flooding due to Sewer Backup: Overview and Experimental Investigation of Backwater Valve Performance. Natural Hazards Review, 19(4), 04018020.
Link: https://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/%28ASCE%29NH.1527-6996.0000298
Conference abstracts and presentations:
Binns, A.D., Gharabaghi, B., McBean, E.A., Sandink, D. (2019). Session: Flood reduction at home: lot-level practices to improve management of urban flood risk and mitigate basement flooding. Canadian Water Resources Association (CWRA) 2019 National Conference, 26-31 May, Collingwood, Canada.
McBean, E.A., Binns, A.D., Gharabaghi, B. (2019). Research perspective on lot-level practices to reduce the risk of basement flooding. Canadian Water Resources Association (CWRA) 2019 National Conference, 26-31 May, Collingwood, Canada.
Dusolt, S., Binns, A.D., McBean, E.A. (2018). Evaluating the performance of backwater valves as a lot-level approach to reducing basement flooding in Canadian homes. University of Guelph World Water Day, 22 March, Guelph, Ontario.
Dusolt, S., Binns, A.D., McBean, E.A. (2018). Evaluating the performance of backwater valves as a lot-level approach to reducing basement flooding in Canadian homes. 51st International Conference on Water Management Modeling (ICWMM), 28 February-1 March, Toronto, Canada.
Binns, A.D. (2016). Lot-level protection measures to improve resiliency to basement flood events. 2016 Livable Cities Forum, 12-14 September, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Project outcomes:
- Documentation of common causes of backwater valve failure
- Development of a novel methodology and experimental design for evaluating debris build-up in backwater valves
- Evaluation of patterns and temporal rate of debris build-up in backwater valves
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