Retrofitting to manage surface water
New guidance on how to fit equipment to manage surface water in built-up areas.
Documents
Retrofitting to manage surface water
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Details
This approach involves integrating the principles of urban design with surface water management to move away from the traditional approach of using an underground system of pipes. It uses instead a wide range of surface water management methods both above and below ground. This offers many benefits, including:
- improving amenity
- increasing biodiversity
- enhancing land value
Under this new approach, no space is considered useless. There are many opportunities to retrofit measures if conventional thinking is challenged and an innovative approach is adopted in public and private areas of towns and cities. For example, space can be maximised to have more than one function, and measures that mimic natural drainage processes can be introduced. The new approach becomes easier if a range of professions work closely together to provide joint solutions, and all interested parties are involved early on in the process.
This project was started in January 2009 and completed in July 2013.