Make room before the rain arrives.

Siphonic transfer could help wherever collected water has somewhere lower to go.

Check your siteScreen a route
Concept illustration: a Siphonic Transfer Unit on a grassed bank between a reedy storage pond and a lower drain, under a storm front.
Concept illustration · not an installed site

Give stored water somewhere lower to go.

Where receiving water sits lower, a basin or wetland could be drawn down ahead of rain, making room for runoff.

  • Lower receiving water
  • A route to reach it
  • A suitable intake
  1. Aerial concept view of South Dunedin: suburban streets and parks, the Forbury Park wetland concept and the coast, with the drainage network traced in blue.Concept · South Dunedin
    Council studies have considered storage in the catchment.
  2. Aerial concept view from the coast: the wetland beyond the road, a dune crest with a Siphonic Transfer Unit, and the beach below.Concept · South Dunedin
    A closed pipe could carry water over the dune towards the coast.

An independent concept, not a council project or a performance prediction. Explore the South Dunedin concept

Put a lower receiving level to work.

Water levels on each side decide when transfer can run. The closed pipe can rise over a bank on the way.

Receiving water level
Section: inland source water on the left, a bank in the middle with the Siphonic Transfer Unit at the pipe’s high point, and receiving water on the right whose level changes with the selected state.Source water level

Source water sits higher, so transfer can run.

Levels match: no difference, no forward transfer.

Built-in backflow protection closes against reverse flow through the unit.

Diagram, not to scale. Backflow protection works inside the unit; it does not stop seawater overtopping a bank.

Ground section: a dashed groundwater line, a vertical collector with a pipe rising out of it towards a route, and a dashed copper ring around the collector base marking the connection still to establish.
Investigation diagram. The ringed connection is what must be established first.

Start with the water below ground.

Investigate first

First establish how groundwater would reach an intake. Lowering it can worsen subsidence in some soils, so geotechnical investigation comes first.

Studio render of the 1000 mm Siphonic Transfer Unit.
1000 mm Siphonic Transfer Unit · studio render

What your operators need to know.

Primer
Serviced annually.
Intakes
Kept clear so water can reach the system.
Power
No external electrical supply for normal operation.
Backflow
Built-in protection closes against reverse flow.

Four questions worth answering first.

Tick what you already know. The rest become your first checks.

A way to prepare for a screening conversation, not a suitability decision. Nothing is saved or sent.

What has to be true
ApplicationHas to be trueFirst check
Stormwater storageReceiving water lower than the stored waterIntake, outlet levels and permitted operating range
Tidal & constrained outfallsFavourable water levels and a submerged outletReceiving levels over time; route and crest checks
Selected groundwaterA collection system that brings water to an intakeGeotechnical investigation, including subsidence risk

Bring a site. Explore the possibility.

  1. Conversation
  2. Google Earth screening
  3. Site visit and GPS survey
  4. Report
  5. Design and quote
Screen a routeCall Tom · 027 590 2090Engineering Reference

The Flow Calculator gives a preliminary screen, not a design.