Strom Water Management | All Storm Drains Inc.com (Dry Wells)

November 13, 2020

My Great grandfather Paul DeVito an Italian immigrant, started sanitary scavenger in the 1930's! He started the vacuum service company after the Great Depression. Three of his children started their own companies in three different locations across Long Island in the 1950's. The three companies had different names.

After seeing the one brother's success with his business name DeVito Cesspool. All three started to use the name DeVito in their business names in different variations. They became a few of the largest vacuum service companies on Long Island.

They built all their own equipment. Building vacuum trucks in their barns at night! Hand digging new cesspools, the work was all intense manual labor back then. The companies were all very successful having some of the largest commercial accounts on Long Island at the time.

I started All Storm Drains Inc. with a wet dry vacuum, and the help of a friend. I would clean stairwell drains across Nassau County, receiving installation and drainage work through referrals from the integrity behind my work ethic.

I never looked back..

DRY WELL SERVICES
LONG ISLAND, NY
NASSAU COUNTY &

SUFFOLK COUNTY
ALL STORM DRAINS INC.

Dry wells in Nassau County are older structures typically. They are built closer together because a lot of storm drain systems are older Nassau. Nassau County was developed before Suffolk County was. Although, there has been plenty of new development with modern dry wells in the County of Nassau. Old dry wells can be made of block like old cesspools. Some are in fact cesspools that were converted to drywells after the Nassau County connected to sewers in most areas.

Suffolk County Dry Wells are typically large capacity wrapped in filter cloth. They are spread out because there is more land available in Suffolk. There are older drywells in Suffolk County because there were cities and towns that are as old as parts of Nassau County. As well as modern large capacity dry wells in Nassau. Some of the Storm Drains on Long Island are connected to Sumps or Recharge Basins. These Recharge Basins are found on the sides of highways and Expressways to dissipate Storm Water in conjunction with a dry well system or catch basin system. They are also on commercial properties and found in residential developments.

How Exactly Do Dry Wells Work?

Dry wells are drainage structures that leach rain water from parking lots, roads, buildings, roof water, bridges, or a house roof or driveway into the ground. Home dry wells can also be utilized to leach laundry water into the ground. They can consist of precast concrete ring or multiple rings depending on the capacity needed or the depth which is needed to reach good sand for sufficient drainage. These precast rings are made in different diameters that also effect drainage capacity. On top of the precast ring or rings is a top which can be a dome or a slab with a smaller access hole in it. That hole is covered with either a steel manhole cover and brought to grade for access or a concrete cover that is buried below ground. If the cover is below ground, it will eventually need to be accessed at some point in it's life for maintenance.

Dry wells are very similar to a cesspool with two key differences. One difference is obviously what waste water it's being used to leach. The second difference is in the way they are maintained. Dry wells receive garbage, bottles, foliage, sand, salt, car parts, animals, concrete, bricks, and anything that rain water can flush into a drainage system. This can build thick layers of garbage on the bottom which can quickly backup the dry well and start flooding issues. Dry wells require a specific type of industrial vacuum truck to service these drainage systems. These trucks can suck up concrete blocks, bricks, dry dirt, heavy mud a few feet thick. They are very expensive and complicated machines that require a lot of maintenance and knowledge to keep them running. Where cesspools require a different type of custom vacuum truck to service cesspool and septic systems as well as grease traps. These trucks suck water, floating scum, and sludge from the bottom.

Some cesspool trucks are capable of reversing their pump to blow air in a utilize the process called aeration. Parking lots can have one dry well or a thousand dry wells depending on the catchment area. Catchment area is the square footage of a roof, parking lot, roadway, parking garage that the dry wells were installed to serve. There are formulas we use to design drainage systems that consider catchment area and rainfall. On Long Island dry wells are a very common way for industry, commercial business, and municipalities to manage rain water runoff usually in combination with a system of catch basins. Some roadways, buildings, apartment complexes, home developments utilize sumps to retain then leach very large amounts of water. Sumps can be used in conjunction with drywells, catch basins, and other types of drainage systems.

Please contact All Storm Drains Inc. today for all your Drywell Repairs or service needs.