The recent scenes of flooding caused by Storm Angus gave us a stark reminder of last winter’s terrible floods. With such extreme wet weather now becoming such a regular occurrence, those involved in grounds care, sports, amenities, estates and green space management are claiming it is becoming an increasingly important issue for them.
A survey we recently undertook at SALTEX revealed that 52% had reported problems on their land with flooding, whilst 57% had experienced waterlogging and 34% wet spots.
These problems are only set to get worse with 15 to 18 named storms set to lash Britain this winter according to long-range weather forecasters. This follows last year’s wet winter, which was recorded as the most extreme on record.
Our Sales Director, Luke Beer, commented: “We’ve seen a surge in the demand for our drainage products in recent years and this has been down to the wet weather. The problem for businesses is that when their land is waterlogged or flooded, it costs them potential lost revenues. Having good drainage systems is therefore vital to ensuring their land remains usable for longer periods of time.”
The survey showed that 42% of respondents had installed land drainage during the last 5 years with 38% planning to do so over the next year. The impact of land drainage was also clear. Of those who had installed it, 96% said that their land remained usable for longer and 74% said it was less prone to waterlogging.
Souters Sports, one of the UK’s leading sports turf contractors, regularly installs land drainage at sports clubs, schools, golf clubs and parks when constructing sports facilities. The company’s Project Coordinator, Steven Gori, commented: “The installation of land drainage makes a big difference to our customers. One of the biggest benefits is the impact it has on improving players’ standards. We’ve found there is a direct correlation between an improvement in player’s abilities when the sports surfaces are in a better and usable condition for longer.”
“We’ve also seen the demand for quality drainage systems increase as facilities now need to meet more stringent environmental criteria as a result of an increase in wet weather. This demand is helping keep everyone busy within the sports construction industry.”
We have also just launched BoxBarrier®, an award-winning flood defense system to the UK market.
Luke commented: “We decided to launch BoxBarrier® because we saw a real demand for this product with our customers. We’ve had a really positive response to it simply because it’s so easy to install and it’s a much cheaper alternative to sandbags. What’s more it can be used time and time again and it avoids the debris and mess you get with sandbags afterwards.”
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