This is how Rockflow works

High drainage and water capacity Downloads Contact

Rockflow is a smart system made of stone wool that is used for regulating surface water in urban areas. Rockflow collects rainwater quickly and efficiently underground, retains and then finally discharges back into the ground, or into the sewer system. This approach relieves urban sewer systems that are struggling with capacity problems.

Rockflow is a purely natural product made from basalt rock. The stone wool used in Rockflow is sustainably produced and fully recyclable. Rockflow’s high water absorption capacity enables it to absorb up to 95% of its volume in water. Rockflow is installed underground and can bear high loads, leaving the function of the surfaces above ground level unaffected. The size and shape of Rockflow systems are extremely flexible and adaptable. This means that Rockflow can be easily installed in an urban subsoil environment that’s littered with pipes and cables.

Rockflow is already being used in more than 200 projects in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Italy and Switzerland.

Rockflow - central buffer - Amsterdam Noord

What does Rockflow look like?

Rockflow is a natural product made of stone wool that is pressed into shape and is extremely flexible to use.

It consists of individual stone wool elements which, when lined up, form a system with water inlet and air outlet. Rockflow elements are available in 3 sizes: 0.5m, 0.66m and 1m in height. This allows us to cater for different installation depths and storage capacities.

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How does Rockflow work?

The Rockflow rainwater storage system works in three steps: Collection, retention and discharge.

Collection

Collecting rainwater is the first and most important aspect of the Rockflow system - because pure and natural rainwater should not be wasted. In urban areas, rainwater used to be collected in the sewage system, where it is combined with grey water from households. This approach is unsustainable, as climate change progresses. We must preserve our natural commodity of pure and clean rainwater.

The Rockflow stone wool system collects rainwater where it falls. During heavy rainfall, this takes the pressure off the sewer system, which is increasingly unable to cope with the volume of water. Rockflow systems help prevent flooding and water damage in urban areas.

Retention

Rainwater is collected and fed into the Rockflow elements via underground drains from beneath, with air escaping upwards via channels.

A Rockflow element can absorb up to 95 % of its volume. This means that 1 cubic metre of Rockflow can absorb up to 950 litres of water. The Rockflow system is designed to empty within a day, so that full capacity is available again after 24 hours.

Infiltration

Water that has been collected and retained during rainy periods, can infiltrate into the soil during drier periods. This prevents groundwater levels from decreasing, and avoids the significant impact this would have on nature.

This process is explained in detail in the diagram and video below:

This is how Rockflow works

Rockflow is a water management system that collects and attenuates precipitation quickly and effectively in order to infiltrate it into the soil or discharge it into the sewer system.

Distinctive features

There are numerous options for designing urban areas with climate adaptation in mind. Rockflow systems have a number of distinctive features:

RockWorld imagery,The Big Picture, circularity, reuse, stonewool, recycling

This is how Rockflow works

Made of fully circular stone wool

Rockflow is made of fully circular stone wool. ROCKWOOL stone wool elements - made of stone - serve as raw material for new stone wool products at the end of their life cycle. Today's Rockflow stone wool elements already consist of 50% recycled stone wool.

rockflow heibloem den bosch infra water management

This is how Rockflow works

High absorption capacity

Due to the fibre structure, the rock wool elements can absorb up to 95% of their own volume of water. Useful in places with limited space or a high groundwater level.

Rockflow render, application under tramway

This is how Rockflow works

High load-bearing capacity

Stone wool is made from basalt stones and is durable, strong and firm. Because the different stone fibers are pressed and knitted together, the material remains in one piece in its solid form.

Rockflow Infra - Eindhoven Hastelweg - Stedelijke klimaatadaptatie - Flexibility

This is how Rockflow works

Maximum flexibility

The Rockflow system is very flexible in design and installation: with the separate elements you can create all kinds of shapes and make adjustments to accommodate unexpected elements.

This is how Rockflow works

Long service life and easy maintenance

Rockflow stone wool has a life span of more than 50 years. A Rockflow system can be well inspected during this long use phase and can be easily cleaned if necessary.

Solutions with Rockflow

Rockflow can be used as a blue-green swale, a central attenuation system, or as a linear attenuation and drainage system along a section of a road.

Rockflow - Napoleonsbaan - Baarlo - Naast de weg - Stedelijke klimaatadaptatie

Solutions

Linear attenuation and drainage system

With linear attenuation and drainage, a system of Rockflow stone wool elements are placed in parallel underneath or next to a road. The infiltration trench captures rainwater from the street, the pavement and the surrounding plots.

Rockflow - Deurne - Sancta Maria - Grote buffer

Solutions

Central attenuation and drainage system

Using a central attenuation and drainage system, the water is drained from a surrounding area towards a central place. The rainwater from the surrounding area is captured at this central place and infiltrates either into the groundwater or by gradual discharge to the sewer system.

Solutions

Blue-green swale

A swale is a ditch with or without a permeable base. These swales can be placed in urban areas to collect excess water during heavy rainfall. Stone wool can be placed in the swale under the layer of soil with plants, creating more space for collecting water and reducing the depth of the swale.

Go to the Rockflow solutions

Useful Rockflow links:

Rockflow

This is how Rockflow works

Video: This is how Rockflow works

Solutions

Designing a Rockflow system

Installation of Rockflow

In need for technical advise?

Frequently asked questions

What does Rockflow look like?

How does Rockflow work?

Collection

Retention

Infiltration

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

This is how Rockflow works

Distinctive features

Made of fully circular stone wool

High absorption capacity

High load-bearing capacity

Maximum flexibility

Long service life and easy maintenance

Solutions with Rockflow

Linear attenuation and drainage system

Central attenuation and drainage system

Blue-green swale

Useful Rockflow links:

Projects with Rockflow

Downloads Rockflow

Frequently Asked Questions Rockflow

Questions? Get in touch with us:

Rockflow Contact

Construction team Rockflow