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Sustainable urban drainage systems
 
 
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Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), sometimes known as Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS), are designed to reduce the potential impact of new and existing developments with respect to surface water drainage discharges.

The idea behind SUDS is to try replicate natural systems that use cost effective solutions with low environmental impact to drain away dirty and surface water
Surface water

Water collecting on the ground or in a stream, river, lake, wetland, or ocean is called surface water, as opposed to groundwater or atmospheric water....
 run-off through collection, storage, and cleaning before allowing it to be released slowly back into the environment, such as into water courses.






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Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), sometimes known as Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS), are designed to reduce the potential impact of new and existing developments with respect to surface water drainage discharges.

The idea behind SUDS is to try replicate natural systems that use cost effective solutions with low environmental impact to drain away dirty and surface water
Surface water

Water collecting on the ground or in a stream, river, lake, wetland, or ocean is called surface water, as opposed to groundwater or atmospheric water....
 run-off through collection, storage, and cleaning before allowing it to be released slowly back into the environment, such as into water courses. This is to counter the effects of conventional drainage systems that often allow for flooding, pollution
Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms ....
 of the environment
Environment (biophysical)

The biophysical environment is the symbiosis between the physics environment and the biological life forms within the environment, and include all variables that comprise the Earth's biosphere....
 - with the resultant harm to wildlife
Wildlife

Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals, and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
 - and contamination
Contamination

Contamination is the presence of a minor constituent in another chemical or mixture, often at the trace level. In chemistry, the term usually describes a single chemical, but in specialized fields the term can also mean chemical mixtures, even up to the level of cellular materials....
 of groundwater
Groundwater

Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil porosity spaces and in the fractures of lithologic formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water....
 sources used to provide drinking water. The paradigm
Paradigm

The word paradigm has been used in linguistics and science to describe distinct concepts.To the 1960s, the word was specific to grammar: the 1900 Merriam-Webster dictionary defines its technical use only in the context of grammar or, in rhetoric, as a term for an illustrative parable or fable....
 of SUDS solutions should be that of a system that is easy to manage, requiring little or no energy input (except from environmental sources such as sunlight, etc.), resilient to use, and being environmentally as well as aesthetically attractive. Examples of this type of system are reed beds and other wetland
Wetland

File:Mangrove trees in Everglades.JPGA wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water....
 habitats that collect, store, and filter dirty water along with providing a habitat
Habitat

The term habitat has a number of meanings:* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows** Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play...
 for wildlife.

Originally the term SUDS described the UK approach to sustainable urban drainage systems. These developments may not necessarily be in "urban
Urban area

An urban area is an area with an increased Population density of human-created structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be city, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlet ....
" areas, and thus the "urban" part of SUDS is now usually dropped to reduce confusion. Other countries have similar approaches in place using a different terminology such as Best Management Practice (BMP) and Low Impact Development
Low impact development

Low Impact Development is a term used in the United States to describe a land use planning and environmental engineering design approach to managing stormwater surface runoff....
 in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
.

SuDS use the following techniques:
  • source control
  • permeable paving
    Permeable paving

    Permeable paving, is different than pervious paving or porous pavement, by virtue of the fact that rainwater passes around the paver as opposed to passing through the paver helping to reduce or eliminate "clogging" found in pervious or porous systems....
  • storm water detention
    Detention basin

    A detention basin is an stormwater management facility installed on, or adjacent to, tributaries of rivers, streams, lakes or bays that is designed to protect against flooding and, in some cases, downstream erosion by storing water for a limited period of a time....
  • storm water infiltration
    Infiltration (hydrology)

    Infiltration is the process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil. Infiltration rate in soil science is a measure of the rate at which soil is able to absorb rainfall or irrigation....
  • evapo-transpiration
    Transpiration

    Transpiration is the evaporation of water from the aerial parts of plants, especially leaf but also Plant stems, flowers and roots. Leaf surfaces are dotted with openings called stoma that are bordered by guard cells....
     (e.g. from a Green roof
    Green roof

    A green roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and soil, or a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane....
    )


A common misconception of SUDS systems is that they reduce flooding on the development site. In fact the SUDS system is designed to reduce the impact that the surface water drainage system of one site has on other sites. For instance, sewer
Sewer

Sewer may refer to:*A system for transporting sewage:**Sanitary sewer, a system of pipes used to transport human waste**Storm drain, a collection and transportation system for storm water...
 flooding is a problem in many places. This happens when flows entering a sewer exceed its capacity and it overflows. The SUDS system aims to minimise or eliminate discharges from the site, thus reducing the impact, the idea being that if all development sites incorporated SUDS then urban sewer flooding would be less of a problem. Unlike traditional urban stormwater
Stormwater

Stormwater is a term used to describe water that originates during precipitation events. It may also be used to apply to water that originates with snowmelt or runoff water from overwatering that enters the stormwater system....
 drainage systems, SUDS can also help to protect and enhance ground water quality.

See also

  • Detention basin
    Detention basin

    A detention basin is an stormwater management facility installed on, or adjacent to, tributaries of rivers, streams, lakes or bays that is designed to protect against flooding and, in some cases, downstream erosion by storing water for a limited period of a time....
  • Drainage system
    Drainage system

    *In geomorphology, a drainage system is the pattern formed by the streams, rivers, and lakes in a particular drainage basin. They are governed by the topography of the land, whether a particular region is dominated by hard or soft rocks, and the gradient of the land....
  • Low impact development
    Low impact development

    Low Impact Development is a term used in the United States to describe a land use planning and environmental engineering design approach to managing stormwater surface runoff....
  • Rain garden
    Rain garden

    A rain garden is a planted depression that is designed to allow rainwater runoff the opportunity to be absorbed from Impervious surface urban areas like roofs, driveways, walkways, and compacted lawn areas....
  • Retention basin
    Retention basin

    A retention basin, is a type of Best Management Practice that is used to manage stormwater surface runoff to prevent flooding and downstream erosion, and improve water quality in an adjacent river, stream, lake or bay....
  • River reclamation
    River reclamation

    The construction of new buildings and new roads accelerates the discharge of surface water runoff and raises flood peaks in the lower reachers of river catchments....
  • Stormwater
    Stormwater

    Stormwater is a term used to describe water that originates during precipitation events. It may also be used to apply to water that originates with snowmelt or runoff water from overwatering that enters the stormwater system....
  • Sustainable city
    Sustainable city

    A sustainable city, or eco-city is a city designed with consideration of environmental impact, inhabited by people dedicated to minimisation of required inputs of energy, water and food, and waste output of heat, air pollution - CO2, methane, and water pollution....


External links

UK


International
  • - Detailed data sets & summaries on performance of Urban BMPs
  • - City of Portland, Oregon
  • - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency