Applications

The perfect base material for water buffer and infiltration basins is a packet of expanded Argex grains, wrapped in open or closed geo-textile. The buffer basin is provided of an inlet- and outlet construction AND a control unit.

Large basins are divided up into modules. The buffer basins with Argex grains can adopt any shape: round or angular. Argex grains can be easily brought into grooves around sewerage. This is a great advantage because the excavation can be fully used. The earth fill is entirely used and the buffer basin is fully integrated in the natural surroundings (in green areas, under parking sites, between buildings, under roads, etc.).

Too little water on a roof garden damages the vegetation, but too much water has the same effect. Therefore, it is useful to think about the flux of water on a roof garden and to look for the perfect balance between drainage, retention and supply of water.
An Argex roof garden guarantees fast water drainage thanks to the 40% gap space between the grains. When the drainage pipes of the roof are within the vegetation area, a control shaft should be provided as a protection against dirt and plant growth, and as a check device. Beyond the vegetation areas the drainage pipes are mainly freely put into the gravel. The presence of ‘leaks’ is obligatory, in case the drainage should be obstructed.

One of the main characteristics of a garden roof is its buffer capacity for rainwater. Rain that falls on the garden roof, slowly goes through the various layers and will only reach the drainage pipe after quite some time. Part of the water shall evaporate or be absorbed by the plants, and therefore not end up in the sewerage. How much water precisely shall evaporate, be absorbed or be drained with a certain delay, depends on a number of factors: quantity of rain, thickness, composition and moistness of the substrate, location, slope, plants, etc.