Working on behalf of Loosemore Chartered Building Company, Sands were appointed to undertake detailed drainage and highway layout design for a scheme of 8 contemporary detached houses and bungalows at their site in Northam, North Devon.

The scheme had received planning approval without a confirmed drainage discharge solution, however it was believed a pumped solution was to be the only option due to the shallow depth of adjacent adopted sewers.

By researching nearby development proposals and following up with site walkovers, Sands were able to locate a previously unidentified adopted drainage run, that was agreed to have been passed over to South West Water under the 2011 Private Sewer Transfer.

This allowed for a gravity drainage solution to be implemented, improving the long term sustainability of the scheme, as well as reducing the upfront infrastructure cost and land loss associated with installing a pumping station.