Benchmark Technologies UK Limited - Flood Defence System FDS-AD1

Over the past 5 years Benchmark Technologies have been developing a brand new system to prevent the flooding of domestic properties. The project was borne from the successful entry of the concept in the UMIC invention competition back in 2004. The success gained in the competition and the subsequent interest and support from UMIC have led to the ongoing development of the concept.

Following the successful application for a North West Development Agency development grant, Benchmark Technologies secured additional private equity matched funding to thus enable the build of a full scale test rig. The additional funding was secured after a series of meetings and the demonstration of the scale model. The model and concept proved to be of great interest and proved to be a major factor in attracting the interest of a private investor and new business partner. As a result of this support Benchmark took on limited status to enable share equity in the project to be issued.

Throughout the project to date UMIC have been acting as mentors providing guidance and support at each key stage. The project was originally planned to be based at Broadstone Mill in Reddish, the home of the Stockport Business Incubator Company. With the help of Tony Walker from UMIC, Benchmark has been able to steadily plan and progress to the latest stage of building the full-scale test rig. The original plan was to house the rig at Broadstone Mill. However, following discussions with Stockport College, near perfect facilities have now been provided in the construction building of the College.

This location offers many advantages in terms of space and construction facilities, which are a key requisite for the project. It is also hoped that as the project develops through to manufacture, that student involvement can be included both in the construction and marketing of the system. Benchmark are seeking to attract a mature student to take on a marketing investigation, the idea being that this could form part of a student thesis or MBA project. Part of this would involve a thorough investigation of developing insurance industry approaches to the flood problem and how the Environment agency strategies may affect a wider population as the threat increases.

The current development project is scheduled to run for 10 months and has now been underway for 3 months. The project will see the test rig being built, tested and refined to the point where the concept can be promoted to the construction and insurance industries. Steady progress continues as can be seen from the following photos, which show the test rig under construction. The rig is a two-tier construction with the lower section acting as an 8000 litre supply tank for the upper flood section.

The capacity of the lower tank will be pumped into the upper section via high-pressure pumps to replicate a typical flood rising through the drain system.

As the water level rises the inherent buoyancy of the system will raise the capping’s which enclose the system below ground. The system will rise and fall with the water level thus providing a barrier and keeping water (and its undesirable elements) out of the property. The ultimate goal is to establish the system as the ‘Benchmark’ for domestic flood defence protection. In particular we hope to exceed current standards requirements, setting new targets for the industry and thus improving the overall capability to deal with the recurring flood issue.

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