GPSJ WINTER 2023 2024 LATEST - Flipbook - Page 36
GPSJ
NHS & HEALTHCARE
New SuDS regulations aim to
control stormwater and curb flash
flooding
– a novel attenuation system developed in the UK offers a
sustainable super-slim solution.
A ground-breaking source
control stormwater attenuation
system has saved the NHS
considerable costs during the
construction of a new hospital
car park.
Developed and manufactured in the
UK, it has also contributed to the
NHS’s carbon net zero commitments
by preventing the need to excavate
and move hundreds of tonnes of
earth and foundation aggregate
The patented Formavoid
sustainable drainage system (SuDS)
has been installed at the North
Manchester General Hospital
Though no higher than a tea mug,
it can hold an astonishing 300m3 of
rainwater water while it is released
in a controlled way into the surface
water drainage system.
That is because, sitting within
the car park’s subbase, it stretches
across the entire 3,500m2 footprint
of the new multistorey car park.
Regulatory focus
Blackpool-based Water Products
has launched the system in
response to an urgent need to
manage water sustainably in built
environments.
SuDS are seen as vital solutions
to rising flood risks caused by
climate change and the intense
developmental pressures being put
on ageing wastewater networks
Schedule 3 of the Flood and
Water Management Act 2010, being
adopted this year in England – it has
been in force in Wales since 2019 –
is now adding regulatory focus.
It requires new developments
of more than 100m2 to include
SuDS that have been authorised
by sustainable drainage approval
bodies (SABs) at the planning
application stage.
Manufactured from 100% recycled
plastic, Formavoid integrates with an
open-graded subbase to enhance
the void ratio of the aggregate,
improve stability and reduce
construction depths.
Water Products supplied the
product to its sister company,
SEL Environmental, which was
commissioned by Morgan Sindal
Construction to design and install the
car park’s attenuation system.
Eliminating cost
Using Formavoid avoided the need
to install a large tank that would have
required the excavation of hundreds
of tonnes of earth and been made
more costly by the array of other
underground services already crisscrossing the site.
Water Products Director Jack
Shuttleworth said: “One lorryload of
our Formavoid system replaces 37
lorryloads of foundation material, so
that’s a lot of truck movements and
material saved.
“Those savings can be added
to the resource, time, energy and
cost savings made by not having
to construct a large attenuation
tank, and contributes to a significant
reduction in the project’s carbon
footprint.
“With the tank integrated within
the foundation layer of the car park,
the only ongoing maintenance task
needed is to clean the silt traps so
water can flow freely through the
system.”
Formavoid provided an optimum
SuDS solution for Morgan Sindall
Construction, which built the new
964-space car park as part of
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GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SECTOR JOURNAL WINTER 2023/2024
£36.5m of enabling works for the
wider redevelopment of the hospital
estate.
It is proving its worth with a
growing range of other projects, as
well.
Recycling water
They include a permeable HGV
parking platform, a water managed
mixed-species green roof system
at a large college, and a rainwater
harvesting and self-irrigation system
beneath a large arena at a horse
stud.
The Formavoid has also been
installed at Manchester United’s
Carrington Road training ground and
Everton’s Finch Farm training ground
to support vehicle and heavy plant
access around both sites.
The system’s cupped design, with
reinforcing ribs, gives it a vertical
strength of 120 tonnes/m2, allowing
subbase construction depths to be
reduced. Meanwhile, the cups are
ideal for holding potted plants.
Jack Shuttleworth explained:
“Formavoid combines with
aggregate to create a granular base
that’s more stable and has increased
water storage capacity than a
standard permeable substrate.
“It works just as well as the central
element of a blue roof source control
SuDS solution as it does to enhance
sports turf drainage, including the
ability to harvest and recycle rain or
irrigation water.”
He added: “Introduction of
SABs for new developments and
the ever-present risk of flooding
is concentrating minds. But the
solution doesn’t have to be a bitter
pill.
“With Formavoid 100, we’ve
demonstrated you can reduce
costs, recycle a precious resource,
water, contribute significantly to
carbon net zero commitments
and make more imaginative use of
developed space.”
Find out more:
www.water-products.co.uk