2. Reducing surface water runoff
Why?
Rainwater falling on soil soaks into the ground. Rainwater falling on impermeable surfaces, such as roofs, driveways and roadsruns off very quickly, entering the sewers via grates and gulley pots and can cause flooding and water pollution.
In the older parts of the village it enters the main sewer and is piped along with household wastewater to the sewage pumping station at Low Mill and thence to Ilkley for treatment. However, in wet weather the capacity of the pumping station at Low Mill is frequently overwhelmed, the storage tanks fill up and then overflow, discharging untreated sewage into the Mill Stream and then into the Wharfe.
In newer parts of the village such as the Big Meadow the rainwater is not combined with household wastewater. It enters a separate system and is piped directly into the nearest beck. Although this reduces the risk of untreated effluent being discharged into the river it is not clean water. It is contaminated by substances picked up from road and other impermeable surfaces and pollutes the becks.
The rainwater retained on your property can be used to create a rain garden, feeding a pond or a wetland area, thereby helping to control floodwater and at the same time improving biodiversity.
How?
- Read up about SuDS, or sustainable urban drainage systems: https://www.local.gov.uk/topics/severe-weather/flooding/sustainable-drainage-systems or here: https://www.susdrain.org/delivering-suds/retrofitting/why-retrofit/why-change.html
Collect rainwater falling on roofs using water butts connected to the downpipe (see here)- When a water butt is full, where possible allow the overflow to soakaway into the ground
- A soakaway can be simply created by digging a hole in the garden approximately 1 sq m in area to a depth of 60 cm and filling with coarse aggregate
- Alternatively feed excess water to a pond or a wetland and create a rain garden. A guide to garden ponds can be found here: https://www.climateactionaddingham.info/nature/7-creating-wildlife-ponds
- Replace your driveway and other hardstanding areas in your property with a permeable surface to allow water to soak in and not runoff. See some options here: https://www.beauxfort.com/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-permeable-surface-options-for-driveways/
