Tag Archives: Water Management

Sustainable Drainage Systems: The Future of Flood and Water Management

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Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) are key to building sustainable cities and countering the influence of urbanisation. These eco-friendly solutions maintain habitats, support natural cycles, and protect human communities. Since 2023, it is now a legal requirement for all new major developments to include SuDS in their planning.

Newcastle University has great research infrastructure in this area, including the UKCRIC National Green Infrastructure Facility (“the living laboratory”) and the Newcastle Urban Observatory. This blog will explore how SuDS work and their importance, using a current student’s project as a steering guide. Enjoy!

What are SuDS and why are they important?

The main purpose of SuDS is to mimic the natural processes that urbanisation has impeded, i.e. the infiltration of water into the ground. Smaller projects use methods like installing green roofs or rain gardens while large-scale projects use basins and swales (flood ditches).

Check out this helpful video for an in-depth explanation of SuDS, linking their function to the University’s Green Infrastructure Facility:

So, what are the actual benefits of SuDS over traditional drain systems? SuDS are known to:

  • Decrease risk from flooding
  • Reduce flood damage costs
  • Improve water quality
  • Act as a carbon store
  • Support biodiverse habitats and animals

Image: Snapshot of a hidden drainage grate among greenery and purple flowers. Demonstrates the contrast between manmade installations and natural stores. Credit: John Donoghue.

“Domestic SuDS Planter: Design, Construction and Evaluation”

During her study, Madeleine Tate found herself drawn to water and flood management, which inspired her MEng dissertation project. Madeleine chose to install and test a sustainable planter box at Kensington Terrace accommodation. The research aim was to combat the issue of increased storm water affecting the residential sector. Kensington Terrace proved to be a perfect location:

“Everyday I go into university I walk past and check on it. It’s quite easy to collect data from.”

Image: Close up photograph of the SuDS planter, showing the pipe diversion, the overlaying gravel, and the blooming plants. Credit: Madeleine Tate.

Madeleine’s planter collects rainwater from the roof and interrupts its flow by slowing it down. The water flow is filtered a variety of soil layers within the planter (see image below for a layer breakdown). After the water has moved through the layers, it passes through a geotextile, finally exiting the planter via an outlet. This outlet deposits water back into the drain system. Thus, the mechanism slows down the journey from roof to drain, giving the traditional system more time to cope. Crucially, this reduces flood and Combined Sewer Overflow risk.

Interestingly, the planter itself was made from a reused intermediate bulk container, which was cut down and repainted. How innovative!

Image: Diagram showing how the planter in Kensington Terrace works. Shows soil layers and step-by-step route of rainwater through the system. Credit: Madeleine Tate.

Project Success

Madeleine’s planter is still in the process of collecting data but has so far proven to be a success! Here we can see a graph comparing inflow levels to outflow levels for rainfall events in May and June 2024. The orange outflow dataset is consistently lower than the blue inflow dataset, by up to 75%. This mirrors the slow pace of the flow travelling through the soil layers.

Image: A graph tracking water inflow and outflow in the planter for events from May 1st – June 19th. Credit: Madeleine Tate.

The Future of Planters and SuDS

Due to its success, the planter installation will remain at Kensington Terrace and will continue to produce meaningful data. Madeleine is now in the process of starting her PhD, looking at how these planters can be scaled up. She is collaborating with Newcastle City Council to project datasets, visualising a city where these planters are installed in all houses and drainpipes. In what Madeleine deems the “snowballing effect,” this initial planter innovation will open the door for more similar schemes:

“The future should bring more research; more use and more awareness”

As the threat of climate change becomes more imminent, SuDS and modelling wide-scale integration will prove to be an important tool for risk prevention. If no action is taken, water systems are bound to collapse due to heavier rainfall.

I would like to thank Madeleine Tate for her extensive help and her informative graphics. She ensured that my first post on the sustainability blog was both inspiring and educational! For more information about the UKCRIC National Green Infrastructure Facility, click here. If you are interested in learning what Sustainable Campus are doing for water management, click here.

Thank you for reading!

World Water Day 2024: Managing our water sustainably

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Water is an incredibly precious resource that is central to natural ecosystems, agriculture, sanitation, industry, heating, transport, and, of course, keeping us hydrated! For all of these reasons, UN Water recognise sustainable water management as a vital part of the sustainable governance of communities, countries, and large organisations such as our university. So, to mark World Water Day, this blog will explore how we in the Sustainability Team ensure that the University’s water system is efficient, safe, and abides by all environmental regulations, plus we’ll add in some tips of how you can save water at home too!

Image: Sunset looking east down the tyne with the Swing, Tyne, and Millennium bridges visible. Credit: Graeme Peacock.

The University’s water

The University’s water is managed in accordance with our Environmental Management System and we have Operational Control Procedures in place that control significant environmental aspects such as water reduction and trade effluence. These are audited internally and externally annually. To further support our water management, we work with building users, technicians, and our external monitoring partners Demeter to ensure that water is being used responsibly and any leaks are identified and repaired efficiently. Some examples of recent leaks that were rapidly detected and promptly repaired include a broken fitting on a main pipe at our Bowsden Court student accommodation, a fractured main near the Stephenson Building, and a flood inside Henderson Hall due to vandalism.

In addition to this work to quickly remedy faults in the system, we’re being proactive in saving water across our facilities in a number of ways, including:

  1. Installing Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) software across the University. This system is capable of logging water consumption data every 15 minutes, allowing us to assess and monitor the University’s water usage data accurately.  
  2. Developing a water strategy. Our strategy will help us to holistically review our watermonitoring and management processes.
  3. Identifying any issues with fixtures and fittings in our buildings. We ask staff and students to report problems such as broken taps and toilets when they find them so they can be fixed quickly. We also use the AMR data to help us with this as the frequent data logging enables us to identify trends and any anomalies where problems may be occurring. 
  4. Installing push taps to reduce water consumption.
  5. Including water systems in our Sustainable Construction Framework. New systems designed for capital projects have specific sustainability requirements to meet, including specification around water systems.
  6. Monitoring our water consumption daily with specialist support. Our partners Demetersend us information every day about building water consumption to help us stop leaks and identify areas where usage is higher than it should be.
Image: Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation. Credit: UN SDGs.

How can I save water at home?

There are plenty of easy ways you can save water around the house and these actions will help lower your water bill as a bonus!

  • Use a shower timer to help reduce water use in the shower – timers are typically set to four minutes.
  • Only use a dishwasher on a full load and avoid pre-rinse settings.
  • Fill the kettle with only as much water as you need, saving energy as well as water.
  • Use any leftover cooking water on houseplants.
  • When purchasing a new toilet, look for a dual flush option.
  • Fit tap aerators onto your taps and look into aerated shower heads to easily reduce water consumption.

Is there anything I can do on campus?

You can report any water defect, whether it’s a dripping tap, overfilling toilet, leaking pipe or water which is too hot, by getting in touch with the Estates and Facilities Helpdesk. Always make sure taps, hoses, and cooling systems are turned off after use. Additionally, if you manage or work in labs you can reduce water use by:

  • Using recirculating cooling systems to save energy and water, and reducing the water supply to water-cooled equipment to the minimum required.
  • Avoiding using water vacuum pumps where possible as they use large quantities of water.
  • Specifying what levels of water purity are necessary for various applications and not using distilled water when it is not necessary.
  • Only running washers when they are full and ensuring the lab has correctly sized equipment for its common usage to prevent inefficient washing of oversized items.
  • Joining the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF)!

Thank you so much for reading this blog. If you want to explore more information on water at our university, take a look at our dedicated webpage, or email us in the Sustainability Team!