Contents

Preface The Siphonic Roof Drainage Association

1.0

The history of siphonic drainage

2.0

Siphonic drainage explained

2.1

Self priming

2.2

Primary & secondary systems

2.3

Gutter design

2.4

Underground drainage

2.5

Maintenance

3.0

How to specify siphonic drainage

4.0

Recommended design practice

10

4.1

Expansion below the Outlet

10

4.2

Sloping Tailpipes

11

4.3

Sloping Lateral Pipes

11

4.4

Configuration of the Downpipe

12

5.0

Materials for siphonic drainage pipework

13

6.0

Siphonic Glossary

14

7.0

Further Reading

16

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March 2015 Edition

SRDA Guide to Siphonic Roof Drainage

Preface What is the Siphonic Roof Drainage Association?

The Siphonic Roof Drainage Association
(SRDA) was set up in 2004 to promote a
wider understanding of the principles of
siphonic drainage, to promote good practice
among siphonic companies, and to provide a
recognised platform for specifiers to seek
advice.
Members have to comply with the following
requirements to gain membership:
A suitable siphonic outlet.
A pipe and bracket system capable of
accepting the pressure and dynamic
loading from siphonic flow.
Design software capable of accurately
assessing the very complex flow regime in
the system.
Not use misleading advertising, which
makes false claims about benefits of a
particular product, or denigrates another.
All the requirements must have been
assessed as suitable by a third party
organisation.
All members are subjected to an annual
random check by the Association to confirm
that their design and installation procedures
are being properly implemented.

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This helps to ensure that standards

are maintained, and that there is a thorough
understanding of these important factors
throughout the company structure.
By using a member of the SRDA, a specifier
can ensure that they are going to a company
which has the tools and experience to do the
job properly.
The Association can answer technical
questions about siphonic roof drainage
specification, design, or problems with
existing systems.
SRDA
Roofing House
31 Worship Street
London EC2A 2DY
Secretary: Jim Hooker BSc FIoR
T:
+44 (0)115 914 4500
E:
info@siphonic.org
W: www.siphonic.org
M: +44 (0)7908 789454
For a list of full and trade members please
visit:
W: www.siphonic.org
E:
info@siphonic.org

March 2015 Edition

SRDA Guide to Siphonic Roof Drainage

1.0

The History of Siphonic Roof Drainage

The principle of Siphonic Roof Drainage was

first developed by the Finnish engineer Olavi
Ebeling in the late 1960s. The first
commercial installation was in a Swedish
Turbine Factory by a consulting engineer, Per
Sommerhein, founder of the UV-System
company. Siphonic roof drainage then
spread through Europe, and arrived in the UK
in the 1980s, with Geberit and Sapolite (UVSystem) being the original companies.
During the 1990s there were serious
problems with some roof drainage designs.
The ruling British Standard, BS6367:1983
had been written when construction methods
and materials were very different, and the
move from fibre cement to plastisol coated
steel roofing products, created much higher
run off into gutters than the standard
anticipated. BS6367 was ambiguous in its
design guidance with respect to suitable
rainfall intensities, and thus many gutters
were seriously under designed. Although this
problem occurred in both gravity and siphonic

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drainage systems, in the case of the siphonic

installation, the method of drainage was often
blamed, rather than the design guidance.
The siphonic industry today is a progressive
one, with 6 major companies, all committed to
designing to the much improved
Standard BSEN12056-3:2000. A dedicated
British Standard for siphonic drainage,
BS8490:2007 was published in March 2007,
which formalises standards already met by
the members of the SRDA.
A specifier and their client can be sure that if
they use a member of the SRDA, they are
dealing with a company which has the design
and installation experience to do the job
properly.
Furthermore, by specifying Siphonic drainage
they can use a tried and tested method of
drainage with over 30 years proven track
record in installations across the globe.

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2.0

Siphonic Drainage explained

The basic theory behind siphonic roof

drainage is very simple and all systems work
in the same way. Water dropping down the
downpipe creates a negative pressure at the
highest point, in a similar way to the action of
a simple siphon, such as would be used to
drain a fish tank. This negative pressure is
harnessed to draw water along a horizontal
collector pipe, removing the need for many
downpipes in the building. This gives a
number of benefits compared to a traditional
system:
Internal underground drainage can be
eliminated in the building, and
significant reductions can be made in
external underground drainage. This
can provide considerable cost savings
and enhance the construction
programme on all sites, and particularly
on contaminated ones.
Pipe sizes are reduced overall,
reducing the loads on the structure,
when compared with lateral gravity
drainage.
There will be a significantly reduced
number of downpipes for each gutter,
which can be located at the end of the
gutter. This can free floor space and
allow columns to be omitted.
The collector pipe, which runs
horizontally, can be very close to the
roof or gutter, allowing full use of
internal space.
For sites with a requirement for a
sustainable urban drainage solution
(SUDS), siphonic drainage will allow
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water to be delivered to a specific point

on the site, at a shallow depth. This
can significantly reduce the storage
construction costs, especially for pond
based designs.
Water is collected from the gutter in small
diameter tailpipes, which fill with water (or
prime) very quickly, and then fill the rest of
the system. Once the whole system is
primed, full siphonic action occurs, and flow
rates achieve the design level.
There are four vitally important concepts to
ensure in design of a system, which mean
that it is a task for a specialised company.
These are:
The system must be carefully balanced,
so that the friction losses in the
pipework ensure that the correct
amount of water passes through each
outlet. This is normally achieved by
making the tailpipes on the outlets
closest to the downpipe a smaller
diameter than those further away.
Another alternative is to space the
outlets unevenly, so the outlets closest
to the gutter take more flow. Whichever
system is used, it is very difficult to
undertake these calculations without a
specialised computer program. All
SRDA members utilise sophisticated
(and independently proven) analytical
software to properly balance the
designed systems, eliminating any risk
of air being drawn into the system
therefore retaining the full integrity and
effectiveness of the system at all times.

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SRDA Guide to Siphonic Roof Drainage

 The system must be designed so that

the peak negative pressure in the
system is within the negative pressure
capability of the pipe system, and
above the threshold where cavitation
(air coming out of suspension in
bubbles) occurs. To ensure this, the
maximum negative pressure in the
system should be 8.8m (863mbar), or
less negative if pipework type dictates
it. To accurately assess the pressure,
software must evaluate friction, bend
and junction losses.
The system must fill quickly enough (or
prime) to operate in a 2 minute storm.
All siphonic systems must be able to fill
the collector pipe using only the flow
from the primed tailpipes. This flow will
be much smaller than the fully primed
capacity of the system. If this does not
happen within approximately 50-60
seconds, the gutter may be overcome
before the system operates. The only
exclusion to this would be gutters or flat
roofs where storage is acceptable, and
thus the system does not have to
function as quickly.
The system must have sufficient drop
between gutter and collector pipe to
allow enough flow to be generated to fill
the downpipe. VDI 3806, (the German
siphonic standard) contains a specific
design clause which relates the tail
drop to the maximum downpipe
diameter. If the collector pipe is too
close to the gutter sole, there will be
very little energy gain during the early
part of filling process, and it is possible
that the system will not function.

2.1

Self-Priming

All siphonic systems operate in exactly the

same way, and so titles such as self-priming
apply to all systems. Comparison tests
carried out at HR Wallingford in 1996
(SR463) showed that pipework design was
the key factor in performance, and the outlets
tested all behave in the way predicted by the
theory. If small diameter outlets are fitted to a
large carrier system, the siphonic pipework
will tend to prime slowly, and so water depth
in the gutter may rise above the final steady
running level. A system which has been
better matched at design stage will not
overshoot, provided it uses any functional
siphonic roof drainage outlet.

2.2

Primary and secondary systems

The introduction of BS EN12056-3:2000, and

the steady increase in building size, has led
to a situation where greater and greater
volumes of water are being drained from
roofs. This means that for a single siphonic
roof drainage system to drain a gutter, the
collector pipes can be very large. This has a
number of disadvantages:
The time for the system to fill can
become longer.
The larger pipes impose significant
static and dynamic loads to the building
structure.
For these reasons some UK companies
favour a primary & secondary approach to
design.
The primary system will cater for the 1-2 year
event, and the secondary system will drain

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any surplus water in longer term events. In

most cases there is not enough capacity in
underground drainage to cope with above
ground requirements, and so this secondary
drainage can be discharged harmlessly onto
external surfacing.
However, the primary & secondary approach
has its drawbacks, the main one being that
the gutter needs an adequate depth for it still
to function as a gutter with water running into
the secondary system. With gutter sizes
gradually getting smaller due to increased
insulation thickness, this can often be hard to
achieve, and so a primary only system can
often be the best solution. Gutter depths will
be covered in more detail in the next section.

2.3

Gutter design

Although siphonic roof drainage systems

work in a fundamentally different way to a
gravity system, the gutters which they drain
work in exactly the same way. When a
siphonic system is designed, calculations
should be carried out using either the free or
restricted flow analysis procedures in BS
EN12056-3:2000, using water depth
information from outlet testing.
Various industry factors, such as the
introduction of Part L of the Building
Regulations, have led to insulation
thicknesses increasing, and consequently
gutters getting smaller. This can make it very
difficult to make a primary/secondary siphonic
system work properly. Be very cautious of
companies who claim that water depth in
gutters is not important with a particular outlet
or gutter type. For all siphonic systems,
gutter calculations should be undertaken to
show that there is adequate capacity, based
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on outlet water depth information from a third

party source (BBA or independent testing).
It should be noted that problems caused by a
lack of gutter depth do not only apply to
siphonic drainage. Many gravity gutters are
very hard to design because of lack of
available depth.

2.4

Underground drainage

In UK design practice underground drainage

is typically designed to carry approximately
half the flow of the roof drainage. This is for
two reasons:
Roof drainage is designed to protect
the building for its lifetime (usually 90
years plus) whereas below ground
drainage can flood in events over 30
years.
Water concentrates very quickly on a
roof, and so roof drainage design is
based on a 2 minute storm as opposed
to the 3-5 minute storm used for
underground drainage. It is a general
rule that the longer the event, the lower
the intensity of rainfall.
Most siphonic systems use the full building
height to generate their flow, and thus it is
vitally important that when the system
discharges it has no restriction. It is therefore
recommended that a vented manhole lid be
fitted at the discharge point to allow air drawn
in during the priming process to be released,
and any surplus water to overflow without any
risk to building. SRDA members can provide
standard details for this on request.

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SRDA Guide to Siphonic Roof Drainage

2.5

Maintenance

Many specifiers are concerned that siphonic

roof drainage systems need much higher
levels of maintenance, but the fact is that all
roof drainage systems need adequate
maintenance, gravity or siphonic. All gutters
should be inspected at least bi-annually, and
cleaned when appropriate. Inspections and
cleaning may need to be carried out more
regularly where there is a high density of
trees or other sources of airborne debris.

3.0

Debris should never be swept into any roof

drainage system, but this is particularly
important for siphonic drainage, where
tailpipes may be reasonably small diameter.

How to specify siphonic drainage

When specifying siphonic drainage there are

a number of key factors which must be
covered. These are:
Rainfall intensity - The rainfall levels
should be determined from BS EN
12056-3:2000, using the projected
building life, and a suitable factor of
safety.
It is specifically stated in BS 8490:2007,
that there should be no differentiation
between siphonic and conventional
drainage when calculating rainfall
intensities for design.
The contents of the building should be
considered as well as building type.
The more years specified the lower the
risk to the building, but the more
expensive the system, so it is always a
balance to suit the acceptable level of
risk.
The minimum drainage requirements
set out in BS EN12056-3:2000,
stipulate a 1.5 or 4.5 factor of safety to
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Siphonic outlets are more complex than

conventional ones, and so it should be
explained to gutter maintenance staff that
outlets must be re-assembled with all their
original parts if they have to be removed for
maintenance.

be applied to building life. 4.5 is

normally used for building where the
consequences of flooding would be
more significant, though these are
never explicitly defined.
Many large developers consider that for
distribution
buildings, the 25 year standard building
life is too short to adequately protect
the building's contents, and so a factor
of 4.5 is often used (Category 3) giving
an overall protection life of 112.5 years.
Office buildings often have a longer
building life such as 60 years, and so
the factor of safety of 1.5 (Category 2)
gives a much greater level of
protection.
Specification of rainfall intensity is the
responsibility of the architect, and the
SRDA can give no absolute guidance,
but it should be noted that if the overall
protection life including safety factor is
30 years or less there is a serious risk
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SRDA Guide to Siphonic Roof Drainage

that water will flow into the building

during its lifespan.
Most importantly 75mm/hr should
never be specified for internal gutters
as it will lead to over flow into the
building every 1-2 years, depending on
location.
Filling time and gutter calculations - It is
vitally important that the siphonic
contractor provides calculations to
show that the system will fill within the
required time period, and that the gutter
will function correctly i.e. will not overtop. In the UK the design rainfall event
(the most intense period of a storm) is 2
minutes, and so a siphonic system
must begin to function within half this
time unless roof storage is provided, or
the roof may flood. In the past some
companies have claimed that their
systems do not need to fill to operate,
but this is simply not correct. Gutter
calculations should be to BSEN120563:2000, using outlet data from a BBA
certificate or other third party source.
The majority of siphonic drainage
systems in Britain use high density
polyethylene pipework. HDPE can be
connected using either electro-fusion
couplings, which are heated by internal
elements, or by butt-jointing, where the
cut ends of the pipe
are melted and then forced together
under pressure to make a joint. Buttjoints should only be made using a
machine incorporating a jig and control
system to monitor the temperature, time
and pressure required, as is required by
BS8490:2007.
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Metal pipe systems (cast-iron,

galvanized or stainless steel) can also
be used for siphonic drainage. The
specification should detail that
installation should be according to their
manufacturers recommendations for
negative pressure.
BS8490 sets out the following information
to be provided by specifiers to siphonic
contractors:
Location of building and height above
ordinance datum,
Required design storm return period, or
category of storm and design life of
building.
Roof plan indicating area to be drained.
Roof covering and height of potential
leakage paths into the building.
Gutter positions and initial sizes.
Preferred outlet locations
Overflow positions
Preferred downpipe routes
Temperature and humidity of rooms
intended to be heated
Decibel rating of noise sensitive areas
Building use
Position of soft landscaping
Levels of roof and external ground
Structural arrangements of roof,
including beam heights
Location of movement joints
Maximum depth of water on roof
Details of connection to site drainage
system
CDM risk assessment for installation of
outlets
Any other relevant information

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4.0

Recommended Design Practice

However complex the calculation program used by a siphonic company, the functionality of the
system relies in the first instance on the pipes becoming full of water. In some cases this may not
occur because of badly detailed pipework. The following are examples of recommended details
which should be used to prevent problems in pipework design.

4.1

Expansion below the outlet

Good Tail filled in vertical

Bad Tail may fail to fill

If the tailpipe below the outlet is too large, the outlet will not be able to fill it, leading to the situation
where the outlet will be working at a tiny fraction of its design flow (All UK siphonic outlets will only
drain 3-5 l/s when not connected to a primed pipe system). Expansion of one pipe size in the
vertical is usually acceptable (i.e. 75 up to 90), but at figures beyond that the tail should be deemed
not to be functional, unless it has been proved otherwise by third party physical testing. It should
be noted that it is perfectly acceptable to increase the size of the horizontal component of the
tailpipe. It is acceptable to have these non-functional tailpipes as perhaps one or two at the end of
a large system, but they should be excluded from any fill time calculations.

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4.2

Sloping tailpipes

Good Tail filled in vertical

Bad Tail may fail to fill

If tailpipes slope, there is a significant risk that water will accelerate down the slope in gravity flow
such that the pipe will not run full and it will be left running in gravity. This will lead to the same
effect as above, that the outlets will stay in gravity mode, reducing their effectiveness, and probably
stopping the system priming and thus reaching full effectiveness.

4.3

Sloping lateral pipes (Greater than 1:100)

Good Siphonic action

Promoted by smaller downpipe

Bad System may stay in gravity

For the same reasons that it is best to avoid sloping tailpipes, the lateral pipe in a siphonic system
should be installed horizontally. If the laterals are installed with a slope then care should be
exercised to detail the pipework downstream such that the system will prime. The best way is
usually to reduce the diameter of the vertical pipe downstream of the sloping section, to force it to
prime the sloping section.

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4.4

Configuration of the downpipe

Expansions in diameter of the downpipe should be avoided wherever possible, as there is a risk
that the siphon will break at this stage. This will mean that if the system has been designed to be
full to ground level, there will be much less capacity as the system will only have a proportion of the
available drop. The other assumption that can be made is that the pipe will not fill lower down, and
that the system becomes gravity at the expansion point. Unfortunately, the process is not reliable,
and the pipe will sometimes fill and sometimes not, and so neither assumption can be made with
confidence. There are two approaches that can therefore be pursued:
Make the expansion in an offset which will
ensure that the pipe primes all the way
down

Expand the pipe such that the filling degree

in the lower section is only 20% which will
inhibit the ability to prime

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5.0

Materials for siphonic roof drainage systems

Many different materials can be used for siphonic roof drainage installations, the key thing being
that they can resist the dynamic and pressure loadings the pipework will be subject to. Most pipe
manufacturers do not provide negative pressure test data, and so manufacturers must carry out
tests on pipe to ensure it is strong enough.
The following pipe types have successfully been used in installations in UK or in other parts of the
world:
High Density Polyethylene
(HDPE)

HDPE is the most commonly used pipe type in the United

Kingdom industry.

Unplasticised PolyVinyl
Chloride (uPVC)

uPVC for use in siphonic systems must be solvent welded

pressure pipe, and suitable for negative pressure applications.

Cast Iron

Plain ended cast Iron to BS EN877, is often used in areas of

buildings where a decorative feature is required, or to provide
fire protection measures.

Galvanised Steel

Galvanised steel to EN 1123 with push fit joints is lighter than

cast iron, less expensive than stainless steel, and has been
used extensively on the continent.

Stainless Steel

Stainless steel with clamped push-fit seals is sometimes used in

areas where a decorative feature is required.

Copper & other materials

In a similar way copper and other materials can be used, but

must be checked for negative pressure resistance

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6.0

Siphonic Glossary

Baffle plate

A flat or shaped device (sometimes part of leaf guard) which

prevents air entering the siphonic system.

Butt joint

A joint in HDPE pipework generated by heating pipe ends and

forcing together under pressure.

Cavitation

Air bubbles coming out of suspension in water, causing damage

to pipe material. Occurs when velocity very high and pressure
very low, and will not occur if pipe system designed correctly.

Downpipe

Single pipe which drops down from lateral to ground level.

Water flowing down this downpipe creates the negative
pressure which drives a siphonic system.

Fill time

The time taken for the tail pipes (when running full bore, but by
themselves) to fill the system and start overall prime.

Friction loss

The energy loss associated with the process of water running

along the inside wall of the pipe.

Full bore

A pipe running full of water or primed

HDPE

High Density Polyethylene a light, robust, impact resistant

plastic pipe system used in the majority of UK siphonic
installations.

Implosion

Pipe failure due to insufficient strength in material to withstand

internal vacuum. Will not occur if pipe correctly specified and
design undertaken correctly.

Minor loss

The energy loss associated with water passing through a

junction, bend, or fitting.

Negative pressure

A vacuum created in pipe system by full bore flow down

downpipe.

Priming

The process of the pipe filling with water. Once full of water it
will be primed, and siphonic action will occur.

Secondary system

An additional pipe system, with outlets located at a small

distance above the roof level or gutter sole which will drain
larger storms, often onto hard surfacing outside the building.

Self-cleansing

Flow in pipe systems needed to shift sediment. Flow velocities

in priming siphonic systems are very high so self-cleansing
could be expected at figures as low as 10% of full design flow.

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Self-Priming

A description of how all siphonic systems operate.

Siphonic Outlet

An outlet which has been specially designed to encourage full

bore flow in a tail pipe at a shallow water depth.

Rail system

A metal rail connected to HDPE pipe using circular brackets,

and fastened to structure at typically 2m centres. This rail is
designed to restrain thermal movement of pipe.

Rainfall Intensity

The design level of rainfall in a 2 minute storm which the system

will have to drain from roof.

Tail pipe

Small diameter pipes connecting the roof drainage outlets into

the horizontal collector pipe.

Vented manhole

A manhole close to building with a vented cover to allow air to

be vented during priming process, and water to escape in the
event of lack of capacity in underground drainage.

Water depth

The depth of water at the outlet when it is primed. This will vary
with flow rate and for some outlets with gutter width.

Self-cleansing

Flow in pipe systems needed to shift sediment. Flow velocities

in priming siphonic systems are very high so self-cleansing
could be expected at figures as low as 10% of full design flow.

Self-Priming

A description of how all siphonic systems operate.

Siphonic Outlet

An outlet which has been specially designed to encourage full

bore flow in a tail pipe at a shallow water depth.

Rail system

A metal rail connected to HDPE pipe using circular brackets,

and fastened to structure at typically 2m centres. This rail is
designed to restrain thermal movement of pipe.

Rainfall Intensity

The design level of rainfall in a 2 minute storm which the system

will have to drain from roof.

Tail pipe

Small diameter pipes connecting the roof drainage outlets into

the horizontal collector pipe.

Vented manhole

A manhole close to building with a vented cover to allow air to

be vented during priming process, and water to escape in the
event of lack of capacity in underground drainage.

Water depth

The depth of water at the outlet when it is primed. This will vary
with flow rate and for some outlets with gutter width.

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7.0

Further Reading

BS8490:2007

Guide to siphonic roof drainage systems

British Standards Institution September 2000

BSEN12056-3:2000

Gravity Drainage Systems Inside buildings layout and

calculation.
British Standards Institution September 2000

RP 463

Performance of Siphonic Drainage Systems for Roof Gutters

HR Wallingford Report Sept 1996,

Wearing et al., 2005

Flow into modular plastic box structures from siphonic and other
high flow drainage systems
Proceedings of 3rd National Conference on Sustainable
Drainage, Coventry, - June 2005.

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