LANDSCAPING & EXTERNAL WORKS 61
The rise and rise of SuDS L
egislation scheduled for introduction in England next year (presently subject to a period of further consultation and full regulatory impact assessment), will mandate the installation of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) for all new developments – with a few exceptions. In its Review for the Implementation of Schedule 3 to The Flood and Water Management Act 2010, published earlier this year, Defra prioritises the “resource value” of water, and states that it should be managed in an integrated way in order to mitigate the dual climate risks of drought and flooding.
It is perhaps a little unusual that Defra should now recognise SuDS as a solution to water scarcity, rather than its more typical and literal definition as a means to attenuate surface water and therefore reduce the risk of flooding. Indeed, in the non-statutory technical standards (NSTS), which were produced by Defra for England in 2015 and reviewed for Defra by HR Wallingford in 2021 and which will form the basis for implementation under the requirements of Schedule 3, Defra cites rainwater harvesting as the first priority in the hierarchical process of determining ‘final’ runoff destinations. This is in preference to infiltration into the ground, or discharge, in priority order, of any remaining runoff to a surface water or above ground surface water drainage system, to a piped surface water drainage system, or, as a last resort if none of the above are possible, to a combined sewer.
Rainwater harvesting rises in importance
In its clarification of the guidelines, Defra requires that consideration is given to rainwater harvesting that has been specifically designed for water supply and, potentially, surface water management purposes. This required where, firstly, there is a suitable demand for non-potable water and available roof areas that, together, will deliver efficient water savings (for example
ADF JUNE 2023
in industrial, commercial, horticultural, educational, public sector and multiple occupancy buildings) secondly, where there is a need for landscape irrigation; and thirdly, the development is in an area of “high water stress.”
Above-ground water storage tanks, or water “butts” as they are sometimes referred to in a domestic environment,
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Mark Manning of water management specialists SDS discusses upcoming legislation on surface water management, and how SuDS will increasingly be the solution
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