The Greater London SUDS Debate

Professor Cedo Maksimovic, participated in an ICE London Water Expert Panel Lecture held on 20th May.

The Greater London SUDS Debate:  Professor Cedo Maksimovic, project lead for the Climate-KIC project Blue Green Dream (BGD) participated in an ICE London Water Expert Panel Lecture held on May 20^th to examine whether SUDS is the solution to London’s flooding problems.  Increasing urbanisation has caused problems with increased flash flooding after sudden rain.  As areas of vegetation are replaced by impermeable concrete, tarmac or roofed areas the area loses its ability to absorb rainwater.  This rain is instead directed into surface water drainage systems, often overloading them and causing floods.  The idea behind SUDS is to try to replicate natural systems that use cost effective solutions with low environmental impact to drain away dirty and surface water run-off through collection, storage, and cleaning before allowing it to be released slowly back into the environment, such as into water courses.  The event was chaired by Ian Kirkaldy, Chair of the ICE London Water Panel and the speakers were:

Setting the scene for SUDS – Celeste Morgan, Director of Sustainability Design and Planning, AECOM

Delivery of blue/green interventions in London – Professor Cedo Maksimovic, Professorial Research Fellow, Imperial College, London

The Oregon Model – Virgil Adderley, CSO Program Manager for the City of Portland, Bureau of Environmental Services in Oregon, USA

How SUDS is working in London – Dr Jean Venables, Chief Executive, Association of Drainage Authorities

Working together to deliver SUDS – Martin Baggs, Chief Executive Officer, Thames Water

For more information and see the a video of the lecture, please visit  http://www.cpdlectures.com/Lecture.aspx?id=221