Topaz, Ireland’s largest fuel and convenience brand, has recently opened the "City Avenue" service station in Citywest Business Campus on the outskirts of Dublin – complete with petrol pumps, a convenience store and a carwash.
During the build, the contractor was tasked with finding an efficient, long-term SuDS (Sustainable urban Drainage System) that would not only successfully protect against flooding, but would also withstand the weight of heavy vehicles on the forecourt overhead. Specifying a solution that would work with the site’s space and depth restrictions was also key.
When the system originally proposed could not meet the project’s unique requirements, the contractors approached water engineering specialist FM Environmental for an effective alternative.
Topaz Energy recently became part of the Alimentation Couche Tard Corporation, which possesses over 15,000 filling stations in North America and Europe.
FM Environmental worked with Graf UK to specify, design and install a 240-cubic litre EcoBloc Inspect Flex stormwater attenuation tank, with a lorry-bearing capacity of 60 tonnes. As the tank is designed to be installed at depths as shallow as 1.32 metres (with an 600mm earth covering), this made it the ideal fit for the limited space available. Surrounded by an impermeable membrane, the tank releases water back into the main storm system at a controlled flow rate, using a supplied vortex flow controller. The team also specified a 10,000L Carat XXL underground rainwater harvesting tank from Graf UK, which feeds the rainwater it collects directly into the service station’s on-site carwash.
The treatment of the garage facilties was finished off with the supply of a grease trap to handle the cooked food production at their Re.Store restaurant concept.
Results
The EcoBloc Inspect Flex system is delivering effective, ongoing flood prevention that meets the Topaz site’s significant vehicle loading needs. What’s more, the tank’s inbuilt inspection channels allow for straightforward maintenance, ensuring optimum performance for the lifetime of the system. It is also engineered to handle the kind of extreme storms that only occur roughly once every 100 years – making it a truly long-term solution. Meanwhile, the Carat XXL rainwater tank is providing the carwash with