Drainage

At Scott White and Hookins we have a dedicated team of drainage engineers who specialise in all aspects of drainage design and flood risk assessments. We use current best practice combined with an urge to innovate and explore new ideas, and aim to provide our clients with economic and sustainable drainage solutions for their sites.

DrainageIn recent years flooding in many areas of the UK has demonstrated that the traditional approach to draining developed areas is having a damaging impact on our environment and is not sustainable. We use the latest market leading drainage design software, such as WINDES, to model surface water drainage systems, assess flood risks and optimise our design solutions. Our drainage design services include:

  • Detailed hydraulic appraisal of storm and foul water drainage systems
  • Design of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) to mitigate peak rainfall flows
  • Hydraulic design of drainage mitigation and attenuation systems
  • Drainage adoption compliance
  • Domestic foul and surface water drainage systems to building regulation requirements
  • Water Act, Section 104 agreement compliance
  • Investigations of existing drainage systems to determine capacity and condition
  • Undertake flood risk assessments
  • Drainage strategy appraisals for planning and statutory purposes.

Sites often require a focussed drainage strategy to be prepared with in conjunction with the flood risk assessment . This allows the optimum solution to be selected and designed to meet the requirements of planning and statutory authorities. Our drainage engineers are able to highlight potential problems and offer effective solutions to reduce environmental impact.

» Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS) (click to show/hide)

In order to reduce the likelihood of flooding, reduce water pollution and replenish ground water supplies it is often possible to incorporate Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS) into the project. Planning authorities may use planning conditions to secure the implementation of SUDS and detailed design information must be submitted at the appropriate stage.

SUDS is an alternative approach to conventional drainage design and implementation. If designed correctly it replicates natural drainage as near as possible for the site prior to its development. This is achieved in a number of ways:

  • Swales to slow surface water flows
  • Passive treatment systems such as filter strips, detention basins, retention ponds and wetlands
  • Permeable conveyance systems or french drains
  • Porous pavements to roads and car parks
  • Infiltration trenches to roads, car parks and drainage
  • Infiltration basins as storage tanks
  • Porous pavements to roads and car parks
  • Permeable conveyance systems or French drains
  • Use of as weirs and Hydrobrakes® to attenuate flows

Scott-White and Hookins have successfully designed SUDS drainage schemes on many projects. We have also reviewed traditional drainage schemes (designed by others) in relation to SUDS viability, and have often been able to demonstrate reduction in construction and maintenance costs.

It is sometimes possible to introduce other measures to contain water use within the site. This is becoming more prevalent as new legislation is encouraging re-use and recycling of water within sites. Measures typically include:

  • Grey water recycling to reduce mains water use for WC's,
  • Storage of water for irrigation in conjunction with landscaping schemes,
  • Boreholes or existing wells to extract ground water for irrigation purposes.