My architect is recommending a plant room to house pool pumps, water treatment etc that is 50% below ground and 50% above ground. I understand that because the equipment rooms are now below ground we have to carefully consider waterproofing to prevent any water entering the plant rooms also ventilation for equipment and ease of access.

My question does any one see any problems with this 50:50 arrangement?

Thanks in advance.

i would say that having a room below ground with large amounts of water passing through it may cause more hassle than its worth.

taking into account the rain that we have in thailand and the fact that there will be water pumps in there, add to that Thai workmanship and I would say raise the plant room at least 300mm above the ground!!

here is a simple thought for you, what is the value of the gear you are going to put in there, how good is that gear going to be it there is a water problem and it is 1 meter under water???

think about a simple water leak in your plant room whilst you are away for a weekend, you could come home to find that you have no water and no electric, not to mention a MASSIVE BILL for the repair.

ok so you could say that it would be down to the contractor to repair the damage, for that you may have to take them to court, that can take 2 years here in Thailand, so you could end up with a big bill to pay yourself and 2 years to recover the money if you are lucky.

be safe and make it above ground !!!

Probably depends on the elevation of the site in relation to the surrounding area. If it is generally higher then there will probably be no issues as long as proper waterproofing is done to keep seepage out. If it lower or even with surrounding area then there is increased chance water will pool against the sides and increase the pressure on the waterproofing.

Ask your architect to consult a civil engineer to verify his design is the best considering actual site conditions.

TH

In places that are lower than ground level, it is common to have a sump, in which a pump will reside. The sump is usually about 1 to 1.5 metres deep in the centre of the room & the submersible pump is operated by float switches. A control box is required for the pump as it will also have an alarm circuit. The alarm usually indicates;

1] high level (pump failure).

2] low level (pump failed to switch off).

3] fault (overload tripped).

Normaly a sump pump is situated in a corner of the basement floor , it is too late to have a drain hole(sump pump hole) because that way the water is ALREADY IN the basement . You need to have a water drainage built UNDER the floor to divert water to the sump pump hole so that you evacuate it BEFORE it comes above the floor , this is normal practise in countries such as North America where practicaly all homes have 50/50 basements . To prevent water seeping through the walls , paint them with a good pool paint .