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SuDS management
Following on from their article on SuDS and water quality in our June 2023 issue, Jo Bradley and Stuart Crisp take a practical look at how to design SuDS management trains to protect water quality – as well as preventing flooding, creating amenity and enhancing biodiversity.
trains for water quality: some practical examples
By Jo Bradley and Stuart Crisp
stuart.crisp@
adspipe.com biodiversity.
In our previous article we looked at the issue of water quality in SuDS design. Historically, SuDS designers have often focussed on flood prevention and amenity, but a well-designed system must consider measures to remove pollutants too. With an increasing focus on water quality from legislators and the public, this element of SuDS design is more important than ever.
Clearly, the way that surface water is treated before it enters a water body or returns to the ground will vary depending on how high the risk of pollution is. This article looks at what that means in practice through some illustrative examples of what SuDS management trains may look like for low, medium and high-risk development types.
A SuDS management train is a combination of interconnected SuDS components, used in series around a development site to capture, store and convey surface water and – where needed – to treat it to remove particulate, dissolved and dispersed pollutants. Designers must choose from a variety of SuDS components, both natural and manufactured, to control water quantity and quality, to create amenity value and to increase
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The biodiversity piece of the SuDS puzzle is gaining more weight as new regulations come into force for larger developments. In simple terms, the biodiversity net gain regulations mean that planning permission will only be granted to new developments that enhance the natural environment rather than detract from it.
Deploying natural SuDS elements such as filter strips, swales or ponds can be a good way to increase biodiversity. In this respect the new biodiversity requirements appear to dovetail well with the planned enactment of Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, now expected in 2025, which will mandate SuDS for new developments in England.
However, there is a caveat. The mantra that ‘natural is best’ is leading to some misguided decisions.
SuDS designs that don’t take pollutant loading into account are resulting in the destruction of vegetation and in the creation of new habitats which are potentially poisoning the wildlife they have attracted. For instance, a study by Glasgow University indicated that pollutants in some SuDS ponds are inhibiting amphibian breeding and development, when compared to natural ponds in the same area.
What’s the risk? For sites where there is a low risk of pollutants being present in
| February 2024 |
www.draintraderltd.com
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