Sustainable drainage

Drainage systems can contribute to sustainable development and improve the

places and spaces where we live, work and play by balancing the different
opportunities and challenges that influence urban design and the development of
communities.
Approaches to manage surface water that take account of water quantity
(flooding), water quality (pollution) biodiversity (wildlife and plants) and amenity
are collectively referred to as Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS).
SuDS mimic nature and typically manage rainfall close to where it falls. SuDS can
be designed to transport (convey) surface water, slow runoff down (attenuate)
before it enters watercourses, they provide areas to store water in natural contours
and can be used to allow water to soak (infiltrate) into the ground or evaporated
from surface water and lost or transpired from vegetation (known as
evapotranspiration).
SUDS are drainage systems that are considered to be environmentally beneficial,
causing minimal or no long-term detrimental damage. They are often regarded as
a sequence of management practices, control structures and strategies designed to
efficiently and sustainably drain surface water, while minimising pollution and
managing the impact on water quality of local water bodies.
SuDS are more sustainable than traditional drainage methods because they:
Manage runoff volumes and flow rates from hard surfaces, reducing the
impact of urbanisation on flooding
Provide opportunitiesd for using runoff where it falls
Protect or enhance water quality (reducing pollution from runoff)
Protect natural flow regimes in watercourses
Are sympathetic to the environment and the needs of the local community
Provide an attractive habitat for wildlife in urban watercourses

 Provide opportunities for evapotranspiration from vegetation and surface

water
Encourage natural groundwater/aquifer recharge (where appropriate)
Create better places to live, work and play.

SuDS may also allow new development in areas where existing sewerage systems
are close to full capacity, thereby enabling development within existing urban
areas.
Sustainable drainage is moving away from the traditional thinking of designing
only to manage flood risk, where runoff is regarded as a nuissance to a philiosophy
of where surface water is a valuable resource and should be managed for maximum
benefit.
Sustainable drainage is a concept that includes long term environmental and social
factors in decisions about drainage. It takes account of the quantity and quality of
runoff, and the amenity and aesthetic value of surface water in the urban
environment. Many existing urban drainage systems can cause problems of
flooding, pollution or damage to the environment and are not proving to be
sustainable in the context of wider challenges from climate change and
urbanisation.
SuDS principles
Sustainable drainage is a departure from the traditional approach to draining sites.
There are some key principles that influence the planning and design process
enabling SuDS to mimic natural drainage by:

storing runoff and releasing it slowly (attenuation)

harvesting and using the rain close to where it falls
allowing water to soak into the ground (infiltration)
Slowly transporting (conveying) water on the surface
filtering out pollutants
allowing sediments to settle out by controlling the flow of the water

Surface water is a valuable resource and this should be reflected in that way is is
managed. It should be considered from the beginning of the development process
and throughout, influencing the design and layout of public open space, transport
networks etc. It is important, where appropriate and particularly on larger
developments that an interdisciplinary team (planners, engineers, landscape
architects) should work together from the outset. SuDS are very flexible and there
are a number of ways that they can applied to provide great drainage that are both
value for money and inspirational.
Benefits of SuDS

There is a growing acceptance that we need a more sustainable approach to

managing surface water. Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) mimic natural
drainage processes to reduce the effect on the quality and quantity of runoff from
developments and provide amenity and biodiversity benefits. SuDS can also
deliver additional benefits (some of which are in table 1). When planning, or
specifying SuDS, early consideration of the potential multiple benefits and
opportunities will help deliver cost effective SuDS scheme with the best results.
Delivering multi-beneficial SuDS will excite and engage a number of stakeholders,
it may also help meet their drivers too which could be used as part of a business
case to partnership fund SuDS delivery and maintenance.
Flood risk management benefits
Development often alters natural drainage by replacing free draining ground with
impermeable surfaces, gullies, pipes, sewers and channels. Also, it can remove
vegetation and compact the ground. These changes increase the total volume and
flow of runoff and may make areas more susceptible to flooding locally but also
exacerbate river flooding.

Drainage systems need to adapt to and manage extreme events including flooding
and periods of drought, while helping to reduce our carbon emissions. SuDS
schemes can be designed to slow water down (attenuate) before it enters a
watercourse, provide areas for water storage in natural contours, and can be used to
allow water to soak (infiltrate) into the ground, be evaporated from surface water
and/or transpired from vegetation (known as evapotranspiration).
Depending upon the design, conveyance and storage techniques SuDS can reduce
the frequency and/or severity of flooding if the scale and size of the measures can
accommodate larger rainfall events. This in turn leads to a number of benefits (eg
reduced damage to property, avoided stress and anxiety), as the pathway diagram
below shows.

Water quality management benefits

Our activities lead to numerous pollutants (such as oil, sediments, fertilisers,

pesticides, animal waste and litter) that can cause diffuse pollution and adversely
affect the environment. Often, this is not managed by traditional piped drainage.
Pollutants or contaminants can be washed into sewers and eventually watercourses
in surface water runoff, making it difficult to comply with water quality legislation.

Some SuDS components provide water quality improvements by reducing

sediment and contaminants from runoff either through settlement or biological

breakdown of pollutants. This can improve the quality of downstream water bodies
such as streams, rivers, lakes, bathing or shellfish waters. Furthermore, where
SuDS reduce flows entering combined sewers, this can lead to reduced combined
sewer overflow discharges (controlled discharge of surface water runoff and
sewage), again improving the quality of the receiving water body. Such water
quality improvements (or prevention of deterioration) can lead to a number of
benefits including aesthetic, health (eg reduced risk of infection from bathing) or
enhanced recreation and opportunities for wildlife and biodiversity (see the
pathway diagram below).

Biodiversity and ecology

There are a number of SuDS components that can make a significant contribution
to the biodiversity (ecological) value of an area (eg green roofs, ponds, swales,
wetlands, trees). The pathway diagram below shows the potential impact of SuDS
on biodiversity. It is this biodiversity and ecology value that underpins some of the
other functions, particularly those relating to health and wellbeing and
management of flows and volumes.

Ref: http://www.susdrain.org/delivering-suds/using-suds/benefits-ofsuds/Biodiversity_and_ecology

Groundwater recharge

SuDS can increase infiltration to groundwater. This can help maintain natural
hydrology, increase availability of water for abstraction or reduce treatment costs,
as the benefits pathway diagram below shows, this impact assumes that the
designer understands whether infiltration is possible and allowed. It is likely to be
relevant only where groundwater is over-abstracted, where the groundwater body
is in an area of moderate or serious water stress or during very dry/drought periods.

Amenity

There is increasing pressure on planners and developers to deliver green

infrastructure, with many local authorities developing green infrastructure plans
and strategies. SuDS can improve a development by creating habitats that
encourage biodiversity and simultaneously provide open space.

SuDS components (like ponds and wetlands) provide an array of amenity,

recreational and biodiversity benefits. However, they will only fulfil their amenity
potential if their design criteria considers amenity, flood risk and water quality
management together. Biodiversity often has an important role in delivering good
amenity.
SuDS provide opportunities to create visually attractive green (vegetated and
landscaped) and blue (water) corridors in developments connecting people to
water. This in turn can improve the well-being of people that live or work in, or
visit or pass through, the area, as the benefit pathway diagram below
shows.Amenity benefits can be delivered in new build, retrofit or redevelopment
situations and often relate to the pleasure derived from or the usefulness of
components provided.

Air quality
Some SuDS components (eg trees, green roofs, green walls, swales, basins) can
have a positive effect on local air quality, particularly in areas where air pollution
is an existing problem (ie air quality management areas). They can absorb or
remove certain pollutants, including nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2),
particulates (PM10) and ozone (O3), providing a number of benefits to people that
live, visit or pass through the area, as shown in the benefits pathway diagram
below.

It is likely that air quality benefits will only be achieved in larger retrofit or
redevelopment situations, or in schemes implemented incrementally over time (or
where it is reasonable to consider this will happen). The extent to which SuDS
components impact on air quality will depend on a range of local factors, including
their positioning relative to people being affected, other structures, land form and
sources of pollutants, the nature, quantity and size of nearby buildings, and so on.

Building temperature
Some SuDS components, particularly green roofs and trees, can moderate the
temperature of buildings, helping to regulate thermal comfort by offering
shading/cooling in summer and insulation in winter. This can reduce the need for
mechanical heating/air conditioning and reduce energy costs. For example, a 10%
increase in tree canopy could reduce expected surface temperatures in the urban
area by 2.50C (Gill et al, 2007).
A review of available approaches indicated that assessing the general air
temperature changes is tricky. There is growing concerns about the impact of urban
heat island effects on the quality of health of vulnerable people in cities. However,
for the moment, this benefit focuses on more local impacts on buildings using
green roofs.
Furthermore, the heating and cooling impact by trees on properties is highly
variable as shown through various tree guides in the US, depending upon the
position of the tree, how far away from the house and type. Due to this level of
complexity, and the individual relationship of one tree to a property, it has not been
included for assessment at this stage.

Health and wellbeing

There is growing evidence to suggest that just being in the presence of green space
improves people's quality of life and health with evidence being produced by
Natural England and the Forestry Commission. However, at the moment it is
challenging to value these impacts. This is consistent with research at the European
Union level which recognises that
indications exist that close contact with nature brings benefits to human health
and wellbeing, but the mechanisms are not well understood

and a report for the UK National Ecosystem Assessment, which concluded that
it is not possible to accurately value, at the present time, the health benefits of
created exercise due to additional green space provision (Mourato et al, 2010).
It may be possible to evaluate the benefits from new walking or cycling
opportunities, and assessing the impact of increased physical activity on reducing
medical costs. It may also be possible to assess the impacts on emotional wellbeing brought about by certain well designed and attractive SuDS components.

Pumping wastewater
By reducing or attenuating surface water runoff, SuDS generally lead to lower
volumes of water in combined drainage/sewer systems, and therefore reduce flows
to sewage treatment works (see the benefits pathway below). This reduction
applies equality in surface water drainage. In pumped networks this results in
savings from reduced pumping, primarily in terms of energy use, but also

potentially in terms of reduced depreciation and maintenance of the required

infrastructure.

Rainwater harvesting
As challenges of climate change become more apparent the consideration of the water cycle and

approaches to adaptation will become more important. In areas that require water
cycle studies, where the effects of development on the water cycle have to be
managed, SuDS are often required.
Capturing surface water runoff locally and using it for example for: toilet flushing
or landscaping reduces the amount of potable (mains) water required for such
activities. It can, as part of an integrated surface water management strategy,
provide localised storage which when available and across a large scale, can help
to attenuate flows lowering flood risk and the potential for pollution to water
bodies. Using less water can provide a benefit to the consumer with lower bills and
to the water company in abstracting, treating and supplying potable water (See the
pathway diagram below).

Recreation
SuDS can deliver recreational benefits through the dual use of components and
facilities such as using attenuation and storage areas and overland conveyance
routes for play and/or sports areas. Also, multifunctional use of SuDS components
can have other benefits such as the incorporation of recreational open space into a

development that otherwise may be deemed impracticable by a developer. The

benefit pathway diagram below outlines how the benefits may be provided.

Treating wastewater
By reducing or attenuating runoff, SuDS can reduce the volume of surface water to
treat in combined sewer systems. This results in savings from reduced treatment,
for example in terms of reduced nutrient removal or compliance with legislation
(eg Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive).