With Flooding becoming more
common place Formpave looks at why
installing Sustainable Urban Drainage
Systems is now a must.
In the last eight years over 200,000 new
homes have been built on flood plains
and with increasingly wet winters, the
amount of homes affected by flooding is
on the increase. Even those that are not
in areas which have been highlighted as
being at the high risk of flooding can still
suffer if there is a large amount of rain
in a short period of time. It is important
then that adequate drainage is taken into
account early on in the design stage of
any new property.
Installing Sustainable Urban Drainage
Systems (SuDS) is one solution to help
prevent the problem, and many local
authorities are also now stipulating its
use as part of planning permission.
The concept behind SuDS is to replicate
natural systems and processes using
cost-effective solutions with low
environmental impact to clean and drain
surface water run-off in a controlled
way. Our Aquaflow system is capable of
dispersing up to 9,000mm of run-off per
m2/ph. This is done through collection,
storage and cleaning before the water is
slowly released back into watercourses or
directly into the ground. However, just
as it is important to drain water away,
it is also important to consider ways of
saving it. A SuDS system can help here
too as it can also incorporate a rainwater
harvesting system: Instead of the water
being released into the ground it can be
stored and used – for example to flush
lavatories, clean cars or water plants.
Incorporating rainwater harvesting
can reduce household’s requirements
for mains water and can be used when
hosepipe bans are in place.
You may think that adopting SuDS is
expensive but, when designed well,
they can prove to be much cheaper than
alternatives.
Also when the Flood Water Management
Act finally comes into force it will
compel builders to consider SUDS at the
earliest stage of the development as the
Act removes the right for Householders
to connect their drains to sewers, and
approval will be required before a
connection can be made.
To help you choose the right system,
Formpave offers a comprehensive free
Aquaflow design service to suit all
requirements, includes technical and
professional advice, preparation of draft
072
proposals and validation of the clients
own designs. All designs that have been
provided by Formpave are covered by
our professional indemnity insurance
and benefit from the company’s 20
years’ experience in designing permeable
paving systems.
Established in 1989, Formpave is a
world-leading authority on permeable
paving, Standard and specialist
concrete block paving, kerb systems
and ancillaries and is part of Forterra
(formerly Hanson Building Products),
one of the top providers of building
products in the country.
For more information please visit
www.forterra.co.uk or follow us on
twitter @formpave
[email protected]