23 February 2023
Using SuDS to reduce phosphorous in surface water run off.
CIRIA recently issued a guide on using SuDS to reduce phosphorus in surface water, which provides a good practice guide, setting out the necessary SuDs deployed in the ‘treatment trains’ to achieve phosphorus removal, particularly for sensitive receiving waters and nationally important nature conservation sites.
Phosphorus is the leading cause of Eutrophication, where there are excessive nutrient concentrations in rivers, lakes, reservoirs and estuaries. It causes accelerated growth of algae and plants, adversely affecting water quality and damaging local ecology. As a result, many developments have been put on hold or delayed for failing to meet the Habitat Regulations. Until now, there has been limited guidance on using SuDS to reduce phosphorus in surface water runoff, and CIRIA appears to have taken a step in the right direction for this. The new guide for good practice from CIRIA advises the correct use of SuDS treatment trains, which will help reduce the amount of phosphorus in surface water runoff without the requirement for complex and expensive proprietary products. At the same time, this will address other pillars, including biodiversity, amenity, recreation and biodiversity. At this stage, it is unknown how Natural England will incorporate SuDS in the overall Nutrient Neutrality Methodology. Still, the correct use of SuDS will hopefully help developers with the Nutrient Neutrality Methodology by gaining credits and reducing the need for off-setting. This could help change the course of many developments while we await the government to put a legal duty on water companies to upgrade their wastewater treatment works. To find out more about our flood risk and drainage services or to talk to our team about this guidance, or your project requirements, visit here.
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