Floodex was at the NEC Centre this year and there were a number of excellent presentations about flood risk management and sustainable drainage systems (SuDS). Brian D’Arcy gave a great presentation, extolling the virtues of plot-scale SuDS. Plot-scale SuDS make a lot of sense. They include raingardens to capture roof runoff from downspouts and to soak it into the ground. They can also include rainwater capture tanks to provide water for toilet-flushing, and where parking areas are provided at the front of the home, the SuDS can be designed to make those areas permeable and, with a little bit of extra attention, they can be beautiful too! The concept of catching rainwater where it falls and using it or returning it to the ground is one of the fundamental principles of SuDS. It stops the water whooshing off, down into the drainage network where it can lead to localised flooding. But there is some uncertainty about the future use of plot-scale SuDS. There are those that don’t encourage them because they don’t think that we can rely on homeowners to retain the SuDS and to look after them properly. But at Stormwater Shepherds, we disagree; we think that there are systems in place to support the homeowners and to monitor remotely how they are getting on with their SuDS. This can provide the local authority with certainty that
the SuDS are being used and that the stormwater is being effectively managed, whilst also giving the homeowner some agency over their own resource management. We hope that plot-scale SuDS become more widespread on new homes and that we can all learn to care for our own little bit of the environment.
Have you got a water butt at home? Or does your rainwater soak away in your garden?
