Blog

06Aug 2020
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SuDS, natural capital and economic resilience: what does systems thinking tell us?

Fran Moore, Principal Environmental Economist at Black & Veatch   Urban systems are constantly adapting to change. They are not static; they need to ‘stretch and breathe’ (have resilience) – so that they can deal with unexpected events. SuDS promote resilience …

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19Jun 2020
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Rains, Drains and Automobiles

Brian D’Arcy, independent environmental consultant   Roads and car parks are typically impervious and therefore shed most of the rain which falls on them as runoff, which has to go somewhere.  The traditional (and most expensive) solutions were to provide open …

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09Jun 2020
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A guide to the DCG

David Strang, Water UK   https://www.water.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Water-UK-SuDS-brochure.pdf   The SuDS community has rightly taken a lot of interest in the new approach to sewer adoption that water and sewerage companies (WaSCs) have developed. For the first time, national standards have been …

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14Jan 2020
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New to SuDS?

Louise Walker, CIRIA What is susdrain? Susdrain is regarded as a trusted, independent, “go-to” resource by those delivering Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS). Susdrain signposts and shares good practice and it has a lot to offer in terms of resources on …

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06Dec 2019
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Source control close to buildings with rain gardens and planters

Steve Wilson, EPG.   Fitting a rain garden or a stormwater planter to existing roof drainage is a very effective way of reducing runoff from buildings. This is routine in many countries but in the UK take up has not …

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15Nov 2019
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Using InfoWorks ICM for micro scale modelling of retrofitted SuDS

Katie Powell, Richard Allitt Associates Ltd and Alex Grist, Innovyze.   When a project for retrofitting SuDS is identified, modelling your options can be  beneficial when there are complex situations to be addressed or there is some uncertainty about the …

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23Oct 2019
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Involved in implementing SuDS in new developments in England – we need your help

Robin Campbell, Associate at Arup.   Like all drainage systems, SuDS components need to be inspected and managed to ensure efficient operation and reduce the risk of failures. Institutional arrangements for the ongoing maintenance of piped conventional drainage are clear. …

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21Aug 2019
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Simple SuDS: A Guide for Residents and Community Groups

Phiala Mehring,   Drainage is one of those ‘out of sight and out of mind’ type things.  For most of us, the only time we contemplate drainage is when it goes wrong.  In fairness, there wasn’t really a lot any …

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16Jul 2019
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SuDS not floods

Charlene Duncan, South East Rivers Trust   A new animation created by pupils of Harris Junior Academy Carshalton explains how Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) can benefit the whole community.     Over the last year, the SuDS in Sutton’s Schools project …

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10May 2019
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Government’s latest review of sustainable drainage: a box-ticking exercise reinforcing a suboptimal state of affairs?

Dr Tudorel Vilcan and Dr Karen Potter, Urban Flood Resilience   The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) review of current planning policy for sustainable drainage (SuDS) in England has recently been published – but we question whether …

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