Plumbing product development
Explore the real-world performance of high-rise plumbing, DWV and fluid-management products and systems in a controlled vertical environment.
Northampton, England
High-rise drainage and plumbing research at full scale.
The world's tallest high-rise drainage research facility for developing, testing and demonstrating plumbing, drain, waste and vent systems.
A unique vertical test environment
Built to make high-rise plumbing behave like it does in the real world.
The National Lift Tower is home to Aliaxis UK's Training and Research Centre and the world's tallest high-rise drainage research facility: a 75-metre soil stack within one of the tower's vertical shafts.
The facility can recreate conditions that plumbing and drain, waste and vent systems face in tall and super-high-rise buildings, including up to 40 flushes in a single test. It provides a practical setting for hydraulic drainage research and full-scale product development before systems reach site.
Established research capability
From plumbing prototype to full-scale evidence.
The installation supports established research and development across high-rise plumbing, hydraulic drainage and DWV systems at a scale that exposes behaviour a conventional laboratory cannot reproduce.
- Full-scale plumbing product development
- Develop and refine products and complete system approaches in a meaningful high-rise environment.
- Drain, waste and vent systems
- Investigate soil, waste and ventilation behaviour across a long vertical installation.
- Hydraulic drainage research
- Observe pressure, flow and discharge behaviour using controlled, repeatable test conditions.
- Super-high-rise applications
- Explore system behaviour and design questions associated with increasingly tall buildings.
- Active drainage ventilation
- Assess products and system configurations intended to manage air pressure within drainage networks.
- Water and fluid-management systems
- Develop and demonstrate hot, cold and fluid-management applications where vertical scale matters.
Control and measurement
Controlled flows. Repeatable results.
The test installation combines full-scale height with automated control and live measurement, allowing test conditions to be set, repeated and observed with confidence.
- Siemens PLC automation
- Siemens programmable logic controllers coordinate the test sequence, including computer-controlled flush flows and valve operation.
- Constant-flow control
- Siemens-controlled valves are used to regulate accurate, consistent flow conditions throughout a test.
- Pressure measurement
- Pressure transducers provide live measurement at key points in the system, helping teams understand how a drainage installation responds.
- Ultrasonic level sensing
- Ultrasonic water-level sensors provide accurate level readings without interrupting the flow path.
- Bespoke test software
- Our bespoke monitoring and control software brings the test data together, supporting consistent test delivery and clear, usable results.
Inside the facility
A real-world high-rise drainage test environment.
From the fixture test station to the control room and the shaft itself, the installation makes system behaviour visible at every stage of a test.
Capabilities
A specialist facility for the high-rise building industry.
Technical testing
Conduct hydraulic drainage research into gravity systems, active drainage ventilation, and hot and cold water applications at meaningful scale.
Demonstrations and learning
Use the facility to bring high-rise drainage behaviour to life for project teams, consultants, designers and industry professionals.
Make an enquiry
Have a plumbing or drainage product to develop at full scale?
Tell us what you are developing or investigating, the DWV, hydraulic drainage or fluid-management system involved and the research, testing or demonstration you have in mind. We will route your enquiry to the appropriate team and discuss whether the facility is suitable for your project.
Enquire about plumbing and drainage research