4 Tips for Keeping Leaves Out of Your Parking Lot's Heavy Duty Drainage System

Heavy duty drainage systems can help prevent water from building up on your business parking lot, but if you are worried about your drainage system getting clogged with leaves, there are things you can do to alleviate the risk. Take a look at these tips for preventing leaves from getting in your drainage system:

1. Keep your grates well repaired.

The grates protect your heavy duty drainage system from clogs. Ideally, the grates should allow the water to flow through, while blocking leaves or other debris from getting inside. However, if your grates are broken, they cannot do their job effectively. Check them on a regular basis, and have an expert repair them as needed.

Also, remember to clean your grates. If you allow leaves to build up on them, the leaves are more likely to start to break down and then get inside the grates. In addition, if the leaves block the grates too much, they may prevent water from draining.

2. Add mesh or netting in the fall.

If your grates are too wide, consider adding mesh or netting over them during the fall to act as an additional barrier against debris. Alternatively if it works better for your parking lot, you can add a filter next to your heavy duty drains.

Drain filters come in various forms, but one of the most popular is a long piece of material that looks like rolled up fabric, and to use it, you simply set it next to your drain, running parallel to it. When rainwater flows to this filter, the filter allows the rainwater to flow through it and into the drain, but then, it blocks the debris from flowing past.

3. Trim your trees.

When trying to protect your heavy duty drainage system from clogs, you cannot just look down at the drains. You also have to look up. In particular, examine where the leaves are coming from. If you have lots of branches overhanging your property, trim them to reduce the quantity of falling leaves.

4. Keep your parking lot clean.

Because it's impossible to get rid of every tree in the area, you need to make a plan to get rid of leaves once they hit the ground. In most cases, leaves will simply lay on the ground, and they won't clog up your drains until it rains and the water pushes the leaves to the drains. So that this doesn't happen, make sure that you sweep or rake your parking lot on a regular basis, especially during the fall.

For assistance, talk to a plumber.