Tagged: stormwater treatment
From ‘Big Picture’ to Street Corner – Surface Water Quality Counts
Report by Conference Chairman Bob Andoh, Chief Technology Officer, Hydro International Developing best practice approaches to removing pollutants from surface water runoff is a matter of growing interest and concern to a broad community of professionals employed in the design, development and construction of drainage schemes. If ever there was evidence of the enthusiasm and [...]
Conference Focuses on Surface Water Treatment Best Practice
A ONE-DAY conference focusing on best-practice in surface water treatment is being hosted by sustainable drainage specialists Hydro International, bringing together a distinguished panel of expert speakers to highlight problems and solutions for the effective delivery of surface water quality. “Surface Water Management – Implementing Quality” will be held at The National Self Build & [...]
Surface Water Management Conference – Implementing Quality
17th April 2013, At The National Self Build & Renovation Centre, Swindon. Whether you are involved in designing, building or approving SuDS schemes, this one day conference is designed to provide practical guidance and share latest best practice for surface water treatment.
DEFRA Consults on Urban Diffuse Pollution Strategy
Defra is seeking views to help develop a strategy for the management of urban diffuse water pollution in England. The consultation will run until 8 February 2013 and consultation responses are being invited on the Defra website. According to Defra, currently, 27% of water bodies in England meet the standards necessary to support viable ecosystems. Many [...]
Government Scores Poorly on Flood and Drought Action
The risk of flooding and water shortage in 2013 has increased because the Government is too slow in changing the way we manage our water, environmental leaders warn. The authors of the ‘Blueprint for Water’ report say that after two dry winters, it took Britain’s wettest ever summer to narrowly avert a serious drought. They [...]
The Top 7 Unanswered Questions on SuDS Standards
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
“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
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 [...]
It never rains….?
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 [...]
CIRIA Launches Retrofit SuDs Guidance
CIRIA is launching its much-anticipated guidance on Retrofitting to Manage Surface Water at a series of events across the UK this week. According to CIRIA, this important guidance document “promotes a different approach to managing surface water run-off to sustain communities that are pleasant and vibrant places to live in. This guidance sets out a [...]
Water Reflections No. 2 – Treating Surface Water Drainage
“Of course the concentrations are high – you sampled during a period of heavy rain” thus I was told off when trying to interpret data from a survey of the Ditton brook near Liverpool in the mid 1970s. No-one talked about diffuse pollution in those days; the awareness that high flow conditions often meant higher [...]
Super-Sewer Debate: A Step Too Far for SuDS?
The extent and passion of the debate over the proposed £4.1 billion Thames Tunnel “super sewer” has highlighted the mountain still to climb in reaching a vision for integrated urban water management in the UK which can be shared and owned by all stakeholders including planners, designers, the water companies and the general public. Thames [...]
Water Reflections: The Need to Treat Surface Water
“Of course the concentrations are high – you sampled during a period of heavy rain” … Although a commonplace observation in the old river boards and water authorities of the 1970s, no-one at that time talked about diffuse pollution (contamination associated with wet weather mobilisation of contaminants from land and drainage networks). In the course [...]
Water Sensitive Urban Design – too good an opportunity to miss?
The challenges of delivering effective, efficient and reliable water and wastewater services are well understood. That said, it is often far more rewarding to exploit opportunities than spend time overcoming challenges to maintain the status quo. For too long in the UK water has been seen as a problem, best left out of sight and [...]
PRESTIGIOUS BBA CERTIFICATE FOR HYDRO STORMBLOC®
The Hydro Stormbloc® modular underground storage and infiltration system has been awarded prestigious British Board of Agrément (BBA) certification following a rigorous independent testing and validation programme. The endorsement confirms that cellular design of Stormbloc® meets high product performance specifications and quality manufacturing standards, backed by physical testing witnessed by the BBA and auditing of [...]
Blue, Green and Grey Infrastructure: what’s the difference – and where do they overlap?
Proprietary Systems: The Confluence between Green and Grey Infrastructure in Integrated Urban Water Management All over the world there is an increasing recognition that stormwater runoff and other wet-weather induced flows from urban catchments (eg. combined sewage overflows) are major sources of pollution into receiving watercourses resulting in water quality impairments and related adverse impacts [...]
Stormwater Management – What About Quality? Conference
Exploring international experiences, retrofitting and water-sensitive cities.
Swales
Swales are shallow, linear channels with gently sloping slides and a wide flat bottom, that provide a means of collecting and conveying surface water as part of a SUDS treatment train. They are usually planted with grasses, reeds or other suitable vegetation to slow down the flow of water and help to trap particulate pollutants.
Hydro launches next generation Downstream Defender®
HYDRO International has launched the next generation of its innovative Downstream Defender® advanced hydrodynamic separator in anticipation of tougher UK legislative requirements for treatment of suspended solids and pollutants in surface water runoff.
Hydrodynamic Vortex Separation
Water quality control is an inherent part of surface water and stormwater management, and Downstream Defender® is ideal for preventing pollutants from reaching watercourses.
Fluidised Bed Upflow Filtration
Specific man-made industrial, commercial, transportation and other locations may carry high pollutant loadings which make it difficult for quality control by natural or engineered stormwater SUDS schemes alone.
Bioretention System
Often the most sustainable and practical drainage techniques are those which engineer in nature’s way – combining the best of natural processes with simple and elegant technological solutions.
‘Missing Link’ in Scottish SUDS Dilemma
AN INNOVATIVE sustainable drainage solution using Hydro’s Downstream Defender® hydrodynamic vortex separator provided the ‘missing link’ in a scheme to minimise the environmental impact of an £8 million Scottish trunk road realignment.
Stormwater Control and Treatment Protects Watercourse
The Hop Oast Park & Ride facility, designed in line with Horsham District Council’s policy of providing sustainable infrastructure and services, is used to reduce long stay parking in the town centre. Adding further to its green credentials, the council installed a porous pavement with a Hydro Stormwater Package System to ensure controlled, unpolluted surface water discharge to the local watercourse.
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.
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