Scottish Water unveils new storm water strategy to address long-term sewer flooding risk

Flooding incidents in Scotland could be significantly reduced by managing storm water on the surface rather than in the country’s sewers.

A new strategy launched by Scottish Water highlights that more effective ways of dealing with storm water above ground will substantially reduce pressure on nearly 32,000 miles of sewer network operated by the utility.

More than 43,000 homes and businesses in Scotland are at risk of surface water flooding – sewers can be overwhelmed by surface water flooding and in places also contribute to that flooding.

Now experts from Scottish Water have concluded that rather than building bigger sewers to deal with increasing volumes of surface water, more sustainable solutions are needed for the future.

A number of pilots are being considered across the country to test new methods in communities which will reduce flooding risk. These will include more natural approaches such as diverting roof and road water through channels to ponds, use of permeable paving, and property level raingardens.

The new approach, which will be more adaptable to climate change, could substantially reduce the impact of sewer flooding on householders and businesses. Tackling sewer flooding is a high priority for Scottish Water, which is committing £190 million of investment to tackle the issue in the 2015-2021 investment period.

Addressing the capacity of the sewer network will also help support economic development across Scotland by enabling new properties to connect to Scottish Water’s network.

Launching the Storm Water Management Strategy at the SNIFFER (Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research) Flood Risk Management Conference at Strathclyde Technology and Innovation Centre, Dawn Lochhead, Scottish Water’s flooding manager, said:

“Increasing urbanisation and changes in climate patterns, including more intense wet weather events, means that many sewers can be overwhelmed with increasing volumes of surface water.

“This can result in dilute sewage flooding homes, gardens and highways and can cause pollution to streams and rivers from increased spills from sewer overflows.

“Traditionally we’ve built larger tanks and bigger sewers to deal with the increasing volumes of surface water. While these will still be needed, the aim is to build more sustainable solutions to manage water on the surface rather than putting it into pipes in the ground. This is a more sustainable approach and more adaptable to future changes from climate change.”

The sewerage system in Scotland is, for the most part, a combined system – draining both sewage and surface water. It also contains overflows which allow excess water to spill in a controlled manner from the sewerage system into water courses.

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