When is Sustainable Urban Drainage (SUDs) not Sustainable?
Well it would appear that the answer is most of the time. You would be justified in thinking that a system sold as sustainable must be, but as with many things the variations in what comes under the SUDs banner is great. If you are looking to maximise the Landscape Amenity and Ecological value of your SUDs system it pays to follow a few simple rules:
Old technology was designed to get water below ground and away from site to the nearest sewer as soon as possible. All too often this is replicated in SUDs schemes with the difference being that the water ends in a large pond, unfiltered and uncleaned. Whilst the banks of these ponds can be landscaped to offer some aesthetic value, the potential for naturalistic aquatic biodiversity is missed. If the water is kept at or near ground level, leaving buildings through permeable paving, leading to streams, wet flushes, rain gardens, dry basins with slow flowing streams to capture occasional flood water, this results in clean water, a mosaic of habitats and enhanced biodiversity. Keeping water away from sewers for a much longer time.
1 Comment
9/3/2022 04:31:11
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