Hydro International - Action is needed to prevent further
flooding devastation, experts warn
AS BRITAIN counts the costs of this summer’s
devastating floods, the Government must move fast to
invest in improved drainage systems to control storm
water and help prevent further disasters.
This summer’s weather could be the start of a regular
pattern of heavy rainfall as the effects of climate
change take hold. The Government needs to pledge major
investment to improve our drainage infrastructure and
minimise the impact of further flooding, warn leading
drainage experts Hydro International.
But the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs (Defra) actually cut the EA’s flood defence
budget in November 2006 by £15 million, despite the EA’s
warnings of flood disasters to come. Plans announced by
Gordon Brown in July to build 240,000 new homes a year
also need to take account of the impact on storm water
control and drainage.
“It’s vital to plan to build a better drainage
infrastructure now,” said Chris Williams, Managing
Director of Hydro International. “Critically, the focus
should be on holding back the rain as close as possible
to the point of falling. In the majority of new build
construction the application of such ‘source control’
technology is already happening.
However the recent floods of South Yorkshire and
Gloucestershire and many other regions of the UK,
highlighted the inadequacies of our existing sewerage
infrastructure. The Environment Agency revealed that
more than five times as many households were flooded as
a result of overflowing drains and sewers than that of
river flooding. To reduce the impact of future flooding,
it will be important to provide for increased storage
within our existing sewers through the installation of
ponds and underground storage tanks.’’
‘’Silt and sediment build up would have also reduced the
inherent storage capacity of the system. The use of
efficient silt control and filtration technology should
also be included in the drainage systems, whereby the
collected silt can be centrally collected and stored
rather than allow silt to generally build up within the
sewer. The added benefit of efficient sediment control
would also reduce storm water related pollution.” he
added
“Each of the existing stakeholders involved in the UK
water cycle have a distinct role each with limits to
their responsibility. It might be time for one unitary
authority to become responsible for storm water, rather
than a mix of different authorities”
Hydro International has been a pioneer and champion of
sustainable drainage (SUDS) for more than 20 years – a
principle now increasingly widely adopted by UK planning
authorities to ensure low-maintenance drainage is
installed as close as possible to the point that the
water falls, with minimal impact on the local
environment. However, more needs to be done to ensure
that SUDs are adopted on a more widespread basis
throughout the UK.
Hydro International is a leading international
specialist supplier of storm water control, storage and
recycling technologies, including products such as the
brand leading Hydro-Brake® Flow Control, Stormbloc® or
Stormcell® modular storm water storage systems, Up-Flo™
Filtration and pollution removal systems or StormBankTM
rainwater harvesting.
Email:
enquiries@hydro-international.co.uk
Arundel Jones Associates Ltd
Hill Farm, Linton Hill, Maidstone, Kent ME17 4AL
Tel : 01622 745333
news@buildingdesign.co.uk
Registered in England and Wales No. 07334149
News Categories : Sustainable drainage
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