Heathrow airport is known the world over as the UK’s premier international airport and also Europe’s busiest international airport. Some 80 airlines fly from Heathrow direct to over 180 destinations worldwide, carrying on average, around 200,000 passengers per day into and out of the UK from its four terminal buildings. To ensure the smooth running of such a massive operation requires some major behind the scenes work, not least of which is the ongoing management and maintenance of the utility services serving the airport.
The airport is served by some 530 km of surface water drainage, the effective operation of which is vital to the continuing workings of the airport’s runways and aprons especially during the worst of weather. There is also a network of some 120 km of foul sewers that also need to be continually maintained to handle the product of so many passengers, aircrew and other airport staff. Across the whole pipeline spectrum, diameters vary from as small as 80 mm up to 1,800 mm diameter.