Introduction
The Retrofit SUDS Research Group aims to develop methodologies and case
studies to support the broader use of SUDS retrofit to tackle a range
of urban stormwater management problems. We believe that there are many
opportunities within the UK's urban areas to address flooding, unsatisfactory
river quality and poor urban habitats and amenity through the use of more
sustainable, cost-effective, source-based storm drainage systems. Retrofitting
may entail the disconnection of roof drainage from the sewer system, or
the augmentation of an existing system with additional SUDS components.
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Our work includes the development of decision-support tools to assist
in the selection and implementation of appropriate retrofit SUDS schemes.
We are now working with the Water Industry, the Environmental Regulators
and local authorities to implement retrofit SUDS in a number of case study
locations, and our research activities increasingly recognise the need
to address planning and legislative issues alongside the engineering aspects.
This website provides an overview of our past and ongoing research, lists
relevant publications, and also includes links to some key SUDS websites
and to two reviews focusing specifically on retrofit studies in both the
UK and Internationally.
Background
Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) is a generic term that refers
to various measures aimed at controlling surface water runoff (and consequent
flooding and pollution problems) from urban catchments. SUDS may be 'non-structural'
or 'structural'. Non-structural SUDS include the use of education and/or
incentives to modify human behaviour. Structural SUDS include green roofs,
soakaways, swales, infiltration trenches and balancing ponds. Because
of their reliance on natural catchment processes, these technologies are
viewed by many to constitute a 'more sustainable' approach to the management
of urban storm runoff than conventional underground pipe and storage-based
solutions.
To date almost all SUDS implementations in the UK have been
associated with new developments. The term retrofit is employed when
SUDS-type approaches are intended to replace and/or augment an existing drainage
system in a developed catchment. Examples of retrofit SUDS might be the
installation of green roofs, the diversion of roof drainage from a combined
sewer system into a garden soakaway, or the conveyance of road runoff via
roadside swales into a pond sited in an area of open space. Such measures are
alternative ways of alleviating downstream water quantity and quality problems,
potentially providing more effective and sustainable solutions overall.
Retrofit SUDS may be relevant in any situation where
inappropriate stormwater management leads to poor performance of the urban
drainage system. This includes problems associated with excessive CSO
discharges, separate storm sewer outfalls and flooding of urban
watercourses.
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