The Welsh Government have recently announced the 7th of January 2019 as the implementation date for Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. Essentially this means that any development in Wales consisting of more than one house or with a floor area greater than 100 sqm will have to have to be provided with a Sustainable Drainable System (SuDS).
Discharging large quantities of stormwater into sewer systems that are already under pressure from increased capacity demand as well as having to treat otherwise uncontaminated water when it mixes with foul water discharge is a wasteful process. A Sustainable Drainage System is one that seeks to manage rainwater disposal in a more sustainable way than simply discharging into the nearest sewer system.
SuDS in the main seek to replicate the way nature deals with rainfall by allowing attenuation and filtration into the ground. The claim of benefits from adopting SuDS is impressive in terms of reduced damage from flooding, improved water quality, helping to protect and improve the environment, improving health and well-being, and ensuring the stability and resilience of drainage systems.
Key points of the new requirements:
· Implementation date 7th January 2019
· Applies to new developments in Wales of more than 1 house or where
the construction area is 100m2 or more, will require sustainable
drainage systems (SuDS) for managing surface water.
· Drainage systems for all new developments must be designed and
built in accordance with statutory SuDS standards.
· Local authorities will become the SuDS Approving Body (SAB).
· SuDS schemes must be approved by the local authority acting in its
SAB role before construction work begins. The SAB will have a duty to
adopt compliant SuDS so long as it is built and functions in accordance
with the approved proposals, including any SAB conditions of approval.
Finalised guidance to support both SuDs Approving Bodies (SABs) and Stakeholders to implement the new regime will be available soon however for now further guidance, including an explanatory guidance and SuDs standards, can be found on the Welsh Government webs site:
