Happy New Year and 2025 SuDS highlights.

Whatever the new Government’s concerns, water will be a priority. The new Labour administration has grand plans for development, which makes the adoption of Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 in England - or an alternative approach with equal legislative impact - even more important. Whilst plans are being finalised, local authorities and developers must use this delay to continue preparing for sweeping changes. SuDS adoption is expected to be mandatory, so designers will need to get up to speed with the range of possible solutions above and below ground.

2025 starts with storms and flooding across the UK, a harsh reminder of the challenges of heavy rainfall. In dense, urban developments, 95% of the rainfall can flow off the catchment as surface runoff, overwhelming the outfalls. Whilst many SuDS adopting bodies mandate ‘green’ vegetative SuDS, our article in Drain Trader showed how this could be balanced with proprietary ‘grey’ SuDS elements to create technically, environmentally and economically preferable solutions over the lifetime of the development.

Barracuda Max is a high-performance, vortex hydrodynamic separator, removing total suspended solids (TSS) and offering quick installation and multiple pipe configurations. It’s a space-efficient way to manage silt collection and removal and can be part of a storm water treatment train to help protect wildlife and vegetation from high pollutant loading. Look out for more details in 2025!

StormTech’s current European Technical Assessment (ETA) will soon be complemented with an updated BBA certificate, reflecting the enhancements to the system. ETA has a high international standing and provides an independent Europe-wide procedure for assessing the essential performance characteristics of non-standard construction products. BBA certification provides assurance that StormTech’s performance claims have been rigorously tested and independently validated.