Sustainable drainage system

Retention ponds such as this one in Dunfermline, Scotland, are considered components of a sustainable drainage system.

Sustainable drainage systems (also known as SuDS,[1] SUDS,[2][3] or sustainable urban drainage systems[4]) are a collection of water management practices that aim to align modern drainage systems with natural water processes and are part of a larger green infrastructure strategy.[5] SuDS efforts make urban drainage systems more compatible with components of the natural water cycle such as storm surge overflows, soil percolation, and bio-filtration. These efforts hope to mitigate the effect human development has had or may have on the natural water cycle, particularly surface runoff and water pollution trends.[6]

SuDS have become popular in recent decades as understanding of how urban development affects natural environments, as well as concern for climate change and sustainability, have increased. SuDS often use built components that mimic natural features in order to integrate urban drainage systems into the natural drainage systems or a site as efficiently and quickly as possible. SUDS infrastructure has become a large part of the Blue-Green Cities demonstration project in Newcastle upon Tyne.[7]

  1. ^ Sustainable Drainage System (SuDs) for Stormwater Management: A Technological and Policy Intervention to Combat Diffuse Pollution, Sharma, D., 2008
  2. ^ "CIRIA guide to SUDS". Ciria.org. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  3. ^ "Planning and Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems. Planning Advice Note 61". Scottish Government Planning Services. July 27, 2001. Archived from the original on February 18, 2015.
  4. ^ "Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems". www.sustainable-urban-drainage-systems.co.uk. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  5. ^ CIRIA SuDS Manual (Document reference : CIRIA C753), 2015
  6. ^ Hoang, L (2016). "System interactions of stormwater management using sustainable urban drainage systems and green infrastructure". Urban Water Journal. 13 (7): 739–758. Bibcode:2016UrbWJ..13..739H. doi:10.1080/1573062X.2015.1036083.
  7. ^ O'Donnell, E. C.; Lamond, J. E.; Thorne, C. R. (2017). "Recognising barriers to implementation of Blue-Green Infrastructure: a Newcastle case study". Urban Water Journal. 14 (9): 964–971. Bibcode:2017UrbWJ..14..964O. doi:10.1080/1573062X.2017.1279190. ISSN 1573-062X.