SUDS - SUSTAINABLE URBAN DRAINAGE SYSTEMS
SUDS consist of physical features and structures designed into a development to protect nearby watercourses from flooding and pollution. Ideally, SUDS will contribute amenity value to the development and provide new habitats in themselves.
In short they offer a means of mimicking pre-development drainage thus minimising the risk posed by the built-up environment to our aquatic ecosystems. The need for SUDS is strengthened further by the aspirations of the Water Framework Directive SUDS and they are no longer an option. Planning authorities and SEPA are insisting that developers, both big and small, install SUDS at every opportunity. They will continue to do so and it is likely that conditions will be increasingly onerous.
SUDS - Balancing the Objectives
Normally, SUDS will constitute a combination of basins, ponds, underground pipes, tanks, infiltration devices, permeable surfaces, swales, and filter drains. The best combination of structures and techniques will be site specific.