We’ve seen record levels of rainfall over the last month and with it our sewer and drainage systems have come under immense pressure. You may have noticed the build up of puddles in car parks and roads or in worst case scenarios flooding, causing misery for many. Such extreme weather has once again highlighted the growing importance of Sustainable Drainage Systems (otherwise known as SuDS).
What is SuDS?
As our cities and towns have expanded, our beautiful countryside has been replaced by hard impermeable concrete surfaces. Instead of the rainfall naturally soaking into the ground, it now needs to be directed by a network of pipes and culverts that carry it as fast as possible to the nearest river or stream.
Unfortunately in some cases, this has resulted in downstream flooding and deterioration in river water quality caused when foul sewers are overwhelmed by surface water leading to a release of dirty water into rivers. With housing and building developments ever expanding, the effects of this have become even more pronounced in recent years.
In response, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Environment and Heritage Service in Northern Ireland and the Environment Agency for England and Wales are working together to reduce pollution and flooding risk and to promote more sustainable drainage systems in Britain. Sustainable drainage systems aim to alleviate problems by storing or re-using surface water at source, by decreasing flow rates to watercourses and by improving water quality.
How to incorporate SuDS into new developments?
When it comes to comes to new building developments, we believe that water management should be considered from the very outset and throughout, and that it should positively influence the design and layout of the project or space.
The main purpose of SuDs is to manage rainfall in a way that is as similar to the natural process as possible. The benefits of doing so include reduced flood risk, enhanced biodiversity, the creation of natural habitats for wildlife and much more.
At Cotterill Drainage, we supply a wide range of solutions to support SuDS schemes. These include storm crates, storm attenuation tanks, storm attenuation lagoons, silt filters and flow controls.
Our storm attenuation systems are used to manage excess rainfall on new developments by collecting, storing and releasing stormwater in a controlled manner to local watercourses. We can also install these systems for you too, providing you with a complete design, supply and install service.
Other products to manage rainfall
We also supply other products that can help you manage the flow of rainwater including slot drains, channel drainage, gullies, land drainage pipe and sewer pipe.
Our team of specialists can provide you with expert advice. Call us today on 0121 351 3230.
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