Geberit Pluvia Roof Drainage System

Emergency Drainage for Flat Roof and Gutter Constructions

Autumn 2001
Pluvia Roof Drainage System Emergency Drainage

Basic information on emer- Each flat roof or separate flat roof section and each gutter must
gency drainages be equipped with appropriate emergency overflows, irrespective
of the number of outlets.

This requirement has been defined in the following standards and

regulations:
• SN 592 000
• VDI 3806
• DIN 19 599
• DIN EN 12056-3
• DIN 1986-100
• Guidelines for flat roofs issued by the German Roofers' Trade
Association
• Avis Techniques CSTB
• SSIV Guidelines for gutter dimensioning

Therefore, the drainage type (negative pressure system or con-

ventional roof drainage system), has no influence on the basic
question whether emergency overflows should be provided.

Further reasons for the construction of emergency drainage sys-

tems, especially for negative pressure roof drainage systems, are
the following:

• Dimensioning of the negative pressure system does not take into

account any country-specific calculation principles of the down-
stream non-pressure drainage.
Therefore, if the non-pressure drainage has smaller dimensions,
the discharge capacity might be reduced.

• As regular cleaning of the city-sewer cannot be controlled,

obstructions might lead to rainwater backing up into the roof
drainage system.

• Trapezoidal roof constructions are increasingly being designed

for smaller static loads. Therefore, the danger of collapse due to
record precipitations and of water penetrating into the building is
high.

Arrangement of the emer- When emergency overflows are positioned on a roof with a Pluvia
gency overflows on the roof drainage system, the following measures must be taken into
flat roof account:

• Emergency overflows must be positioned in such a way that they

do not obstruct the rainwater flow between the outlet and the
emergency overflow.

• The weir must be placed 5 cm above the rainwater outlet, regard-

less of the type of emergency overflow used (this also applies to
roofs with vegetation). It must be ensured that there are no flat
roof edges or roof entryways, etc. below the emergency overflow
level.

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Pluvia Roof Drainage System Emergency Drainage

• The emergency overflow should always be constructed through

the roof balustrade, if possible. If the roof construction does not
allow an unobstructed emergency overflow through the
balustrade, emergency drainage can also be via another piping
system. This piping system should, however, not be directed to
the same city-sewer as the Pluvia system. It is even better to
route this piping system above the ambient level.

• External emergency overflows should have a square design; this

ensures a faster operating behaviour than a system with round
apertures.
Emergency overflows using another piping system may, howev-
er, also be round (with pipes). In this case, the inlet funnel should
preferably have a round design too.

Dimensioning of emergency An infinite number of country-specific guidelines and calculation

overflows on the flat roof procedures is available for the dimensioning of emergency over-
flows. Regardless of these procedures and taking into account
record precipitations and the gravitational constant etc., Geberit
offers an easy way to calculate the dimensions of emergency over-
flows by using the company's empirical values.

Total amount of rainfall in litres / s x 25 cm2

Example:
Roof area with four outlets à 8 l / s = 32 l / s x 25 cm2 = 800 cm2
In order to guarantee that this emergency overflow will respond as
quickly as possible to the respective amount of water and that the
roof will not become overloaded, the horizontal aperture of the
emergency overflow should be large.
This means the height of the aperture should range from 10 to a
maximum of 15 cm. The overall size of the emergency overflow
aperture in the above example would then be 80 x 10 cm or
54 x 15 cm.
The total aperture size can, of course, also be divided into several
smaller apertures.

These dimensions can also be used for an internal emergency

drainage system (e.g. a pipe system). According to the above
example, approx. two PE pipes of 250 mm should be used to guar-
antee sufficient emergency drainage.

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Pluvia Roof Drainage System Emergency Drainage

This dimensioning method ensures an efficient roof drainage even if

outlets are blocked or the city-sewer is obstructed. Record precip-
itations (~ rainfall intensity twice as high as normal ) can thus be
handled. Double rainfall intensity corresponds to a safety factor of
2.0. An even higher safety factor must be applied to buildings
requiring higher protection (hospitals, theatres,…).
(For detailed information, see EN 12056-3 chap. 4.2.)

H
10-15 var. 10-15
5

Emergency overflow via balustrade (square)

Internal emergency overflow (round)

Arrangement of emergency For gutter constructions, the appropriate arrangement of emer-

overflows in the gutter gency overflows is equally important. This especially applies to
internal gutters (shed-type gutters): For this gutter type, emergency
overflows can only be positioned at the two front ends of the gut-
ter.
For bracket mounted gutters, the emergency overflows can be
positioned near the outlets (lowest point of the corresponding gut-
ter section) as well as at the front ends.

To guarantee efficient emergency overflows in accordance with the

following dimensioning, the basic specifications on the use of the
Pluvia system for gutters must be considered:
• Maximum distance of outlets 20 m,
• Minimum gutter width 35 cm,
• Gutter slope in the longitudinal direction 5 mm / m (0.5 %).

0.5 % 0.5 %

max.10 m max. 20 m max. 20 m

Arrangement of outlets in gutters

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Pluvia Roof Drainage System Emergency Drainage

min. 35 cm

min. +
0.0 %

Cross-section of external gutters with minimum requirements

For the dimensioning of emergency overflows for gutter construc-

tions, the two different arrangements must be considered.

Dimensioning of emergency For emergency overflows fixed alongside the gutter, dimensioning
overflows placed along- is basically the same as for flat roof emergency overflows.
side the gutter The only difference is that for gutter contructions the weir must be
placed 10 cm above the outlet.

Total amount of rainfall in litres / s x 25 cm2

The required aperture surface that has been calculated must be dis-
tributed equally among the number of outlets.

H
10 - 15 cm var.
10 cm

Emergency overflow for gutters, longitudinal arrangement

Example:
Gutter with four outlets of 6 l / s = 24 l / s x 25 cm2 = 600 cm2
For an aperture height of 10 cm the total aperture length is 60 cm.
Total aperture length 60 cm : 4 outlets = 15 cm; i.e. the ideal emer-
gency overflow aperture for each outlet is 15 x 10 cm.

Dimensioning of emergency Notwithstanding any existing calculation tables and the above-
overflows placed at the mentioned basics on dimensioning, the following can be said when
front end of the gutter calculating the front end emergency overflow aperture:
• Both front ends of the gutter must be equipped with an emer-
gency overflow aperture.
• These apertures must be mounted in such a way that the whole
gutter width is covered; the top must be kept open.

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Pluvia Roof Drainage System Emergency drainage

• The weir must be mounted at least 5 cm and maximum 10 cm

above the following outlet aperture (depending on the distance
between the outlet and the front end or the longitudinal slope).

5 - 10 cm 0.5 %

max. 10 m
Emergency overflow for gutters, front end arrangement

G. width

5 - 10 cm

Cross-section of emergency overflow for gutters, front end arrangement

The correct dimensioning of the gutter in accordance with the

country-specific standards and guidelines is the prerequisite for
these emergency overflows to be able to meet the require-
ments.
The minimum requirements of a gutter can also be determined
using the chart below (if the volume flow is known).
Gutter width in cm
100 75
60
56
52 50
48
44
40
40
36 35
32
28
24
Volume flow VGutter in l/s

20
16
12
8
4

10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Gutter depth in cm

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Pluvia Roof Drainage System Emergency Drainage

Cleaning of the system and Flat roofs and gutters require regular maintenance. For example,
maintenance any contamination and vegetation must be removed and leaves
cleared away regularly in order to avoid having blocked drains.
This cleaning work should be undertaken more or less frequently
depending on the specific ambient conditions. The work should
include cleaning the Pluvia rainwater outlets as well as the emer-
gency overflows. In order to clean the Pluvia rainwater outlets, it is
necessary to briefly remove the cover and the inlet disk and also
clean the dirt off the inlet element underneath.
The frequency of cleaning has to be defined for the building by its
owner who can entrust this task to a suitable person such as the
caretaker.

Autumn 2001, GIAG / Hun 7