Categories
- Engineering Nature's Way
- Flood Alleviation
- Flood and Water Management Act
- Maintenance and whole-life issues
- Retrofit SuDS
- Stormwater Quality
- SUDS
- Techniques and Advice
- Water Policy
- Water Quality
- Water Sensitive Urban Design
Archives
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- February 2013
- November 2012
- October 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- February 2011
Guest Bloggers
Blog
You can read the articles posted by our experts by choosing them below:
Upton Meadows Community SuDS Fair
June 18, 2013
Saturday’s hugely successful SuDS Fair at Upton Meadows demonstrated the power of community engagement and the true value of SuDS to residents as a public amenity. Congratulations to the Prince’s Foundation and the University of Northampton for hosting an event which put the local people at the heart of the SuDS experience. With everything from [...]
SuDS, WSUD and Blue/Green Infrastructure – What’s the difference?
June 14, 2013
Across the globe approaches to sustainable water management are getting more sophisticated as we recognise just how closely intertwined our urban lives are with the water cycle. Historically, we separated out the way we think about water: waste water; drinking water; stormwater; rivers and coastal waters – we have compartmentalised, industrialised and managed each separately. [...]
Learning to SWiM:
May 16, 2013
How to improve sustainability, save money and underpin business resilience. In launching its latest State of the Nation: Water report in June 2012, The Institution of Civil Engineers concluded that “the challenges facing the UK’s water security are with us, are serious and require immediate attention”. While flood risk management remains high on the water [...]
Let’s Talk Treatment ….
April 30, 2013
SURFACE water treatment can no longer be the ‘poorer’ relation of the SuDS triangle of quality, quantity and amenity. True, there are those who believe it would be easier if we could just get on with tackling surface water flooding with SuDS, at least in the short term. But the fact is improving water quality [...]
SuDS a Vision for the Future
February 6, 2013
SuDS: The State of the Nation is a much-needed initiative to highlight current thinking and concerns about the implementation of Sustainable Drainage. I was pleased to chair a Round Table debate on the current up-take of SuDS and the challenges we face in managing both floods and water stress in the UK. SuDS is not just [...]
We Need Leadership to Make SuDS Happen
February 5, 2013
Participating in the Engineering Nature’s Way ‘State of the Nation Debate’ recently was in retrospect both useful and encouraging, but equally frustrating. Encouraging to find a commonality of views regarding the need for integrated water management and the implementation of SuDS across a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds, and frustrating that there is no [...]
Delivering Sustainable Drainage – Let’s Get Practical
February 5, 2013
We all want to achieve our goal of widespread use of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) as quickly as possible – to get there, I believe, requires us to combine our vision with some healthy pragmatism. The House of Commons environmental select committee (EFRA) have reinforced the need for urgency in implementing SuDS measures in its [...]
SuDS, It can’t be done because …
February 4, 2013
Since I have entered the world of SuDS I have heard the same expression on numerous occasions whether it is a discussion over a couple of beers with colleagues, or in meetings with designers, or negotiating S38 agreements with developers. I listen to snippets of conversations or am told of conversations that at times are [...]
Floods Crisis: Government Indecision and Delay “Must Stop Now”
November 27, 2012
As Britain is gripped by a floods crisis, Government indecision and inertia is seriously delaying vital work to protect thousands of homes and properties in the UK. Devastating flooding could cause £millions of damage in scenes reminiscent of the 2007 floods which prompted a groundbreaking Government review by Sir Michael Pitt. Yet how much real [...]
SuDS and the Floods and Water Supply Nexus
November 22, 2012
Alastair Moseley, Honorary Vice President of the CIWEM and Director of H2O WEM Ltd announces the launch of a survey and round table debate on the current up-take of SuDS and the challenges we face in managing floods whilst providing water resources in areas of water stress in the UK. This year has seen the [...]
SuDS Design Standards – Where do we go from here?
November 7, 2012
When the news quietly trickled through, local authority SuDS approving teams could not have been surprised to learn that they will not be commencing their new roles in April 2013. A further delay had come to seem inevitable. The question is, what should the preparing SABs do now? Those who are farthest ahead could follow [...]
Have We Really Moved on Since Pitt?
November 2, 2012
2012 has been another landmark year for flooding across the UK. Once again we have been reminded of water’s deadly and devastating potential to wreak human misery. Our summer began with widespread fears of severe drought before melting into floods. After an ‘Olympic’ respite, the floods began again, bringing ever-more dramatic scenes to our TV [...]
SuDS – Why We All Have to Get it Right
October 29, 2012
There’s no doubt that we are making tremendous steps forward on the road to widespread use of SuDS in the UK, but there is still a long road ahead. That’s why sharing knowledge and best practice is so important. Since its launch in May 2012, there have been nearly 20,000 visits to the Engineering Nature’s [...]
European Project Shares Water Knowledge
August 16, 2012
Getting scientists, policymakers and industry professionals to talk the same language can be a challenge for water policy development that stands in the way of environmental progress. In Europe, the challenge is being tackled head-on by the pioneering STEP-WISE initiative. Science and research is crucial role to underpinning water policy formulation and implementation across the [...]
The only way is ethics: It’s time for civil engineers to say what they really think….
August 2, 2012
With the call by Prince Charles to revisit the definition of civil engineering, it is now timely for professional civil engineers to not be afraid to say what they really think to government, clients and employers. The Profession firstly serves mankind and everything we do needs to take a global perspective. However, personal fears may [...]
How can we deliver SuDS in the Public Realm?
July 11, 2012
At the London retrofit launch event in April part of my presentation touched on how traffic calming contributed to poor drainage design and an approach or attitude that drainage is an expensive burden and distraction. I mentioned that the previous Government set a clear ten year target to reduce road accidents by what was considered [...]
Retrofit Vision Must Drive Industry Thinking
June 29, 2012
At the launch of CIRIA’s seminal guidance on Retrofitting for Surface Water Management, I was struck most by what a visionary piece of work this is. Every speaker seemed infected by the same passion for change, just as much as that passion is evident between almost every line of this ground-breaking 272-page document. There’s no [...]
New Training and Guidance Meets SuDS Approving Body (SAB) Concerns
June 27, 2012
Local authority delegates attending the first of our new training sessions for SABS have welcomed the guidance and support it has provided against a background of continuing uncertainty. The training, organised by Hydro International, Arup and Micro Drainage Ltd is dedicated to providing practical and pragmatic advice to SABS on how to interpret Government guidance [...]
The Top 7 Unanswered Questions on SuDS Standards
June 26, 2012
With one voice, a cry for ‘clarity, clarity, clarity’ has gone out to Government in response to the National SuDS Standards consultation. There are strong indications that both local government and industry believe the standards, as they currently stand, are not yet fit for purpose. The devil is definitely in the detail as far as [...]
Regulating urban diffuse pollution
June 20, 2012
“The problem is, we aren’t able to regulate diffuse sources” is occasionally heard from speakers at conferences or in discussions with water industry colleagues. Whilst that may be true, it is not the same as stating that diffuse sources cannot be regulated. But the belief is a problem. Nearly forty years ago, The Control of [...]
Community Outreach for Surface Water Management
May 25, 2012
The US is providing excellent examples of community engagement in SuDS projects or ‘outreach’ as the term is widely referred to there, from which we in the UK have much to learn. I was asked by Paul Shaffer of CIRIA if I would capture the essence of surface water management community outreach for a CIRIA [...]
The Beauty of a Vortex….
May 16, 2012
Admiring the beauty and elegance of natural patterns and processes is something that I believe all us engineers do. The vortex is a particular object of fascination for water and drainage engineers because of its simplicity and power. Yet, as Leonardo Da Vinci once said: “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” – and simplicity can take [...]
Soft options for WFD – guidance for roads, and industrial estates best practice
May 2, 2012
Measures to control diffuse pollution, as required by the Water Framework Directive (WFD), are often described as ranging from “hard regulation” to “softer” approaches, such as technical manuals and codes of practice; educational initiatives involving sector engagement. For urban diffuse sources, new initiatives to develop best practice guidance can have a role to play for [...]
It never rains….?
April 27, 2012
As drought was followed by deluge, recent weather patterns underlined the urgency of finding sustainable means of controlling surface water flows has not diminished.Flooding exacerbated by a ground hardened through drought prevented surface water infiltrating through the soil. Climate change is leading both to longer, dryer periods and to more intense storm events, which meteorologists [...]
Let’s Get Nibbling!
April 25, 2012
The new SuDS Retrofitting guidance by CIRIA was launched this last Monday (23 April), after a very long gestation period, and I was really pleased to finally have it available, and to have been part of one of the launch events. A few things sprang to mind as a consequence of the session, with the [...]
SuDs get out clause would be ‘unmanageable’
March 26, 2012
So, the consultation on the National SuDS Standards is closed, and we are all eagerly awaiting the outcome. The draft standards are much as expected, but I am surprised, and more than a little concerned, that they contain such an unmanageable get out clause allowing any development to be exempt from SUDS if the SUDS [...]
When will we have a truly sustainable drainage infrastructure?
March 14, 2012
As Defra’s consultation on National Standards for SuDS came to a close, I was prompted to ask the question: how long will it be before they have a measurable impact on our surface water management infrastructure in the UK? The answer is, surely not for many years. Set to become law in Autumn 2012 at [...]
Is Transferring Software Around the World the Key to Advancing WSUD?
February 21, 2012
Is transferring software around the world the key to advancing Water Sensitive Urban Design ? (WSUD) or should we understand the context of the place in which we want to develop WSUD first? It is very easy to get carried away with the bells and whistles of software but what really works is when we [...]
Do water and sewerage companies wave goodbye to surface water?
February 2, 2012
One of the most interesting parts of the National SuDS Standard consultation is not what is in it but what is in the consultation on the automatic adoption of new gravity foul sewers and lateral drains. This implements a change in the Water Industry Act that was proposed in the Flood and Water Management Act. [...]
SuDS maintenance funding arrangements could be a ‘logistical nightmare’
January 30, 2012
Local authorities still have some big questions over the funding of SuDS schemes as we move towards full implementation of the Flood and Water Management Act. I was attending a Flood Management Conference just before Christmas and was sat listening to a senior official from DEFRA explaining how the funding would be provided to maintain [...]
Hydro International Hosts SuDS Round Table Debate
Hydro International hosted SuDS: The State of the Nation, a Round Table debate to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing SuDS delivery.
Download a Copy of the Survey Report
