Southern Water is looking for community groups and businesses who can help slow the flow of rainwater from roofs or driveways – and stop it from overloading sewers.
The new Community SuDS Fund will offer up to £3,000 grants to those who come forward with ideas that help keep rainfall out of the network.
SuDS, or Sustainable Drainage Schemes, can include rain gardens, adapted water butts, wetlands and other innovative solutions that capture water and release it slowly back into the environment – rather than allowing it to race into drains and sewers from hard impermeable surfaces.
Allowing flows to rapidly enter sewers can overload pipes and wastewater treatment sites, leading to the use of storm overflows into the environment to stop homes and businesses from flooding.
Teams on the ground on the Isle of Wight are working hard to improve the local network and reduce storm overflows through nature-based and engineering solutions, but Southern Water also wants to help customers implement their own solutions which can make a difference too.
Financial and technical support will be on offer to successful applicants.
Joanne Wood, Partnerships Delivery Manager for Southern Water, says:
“We know how passionate customers on the Isle of Wight are about the local environment and waterways, and this is why we want to work with them and hear about their ideas to collectively slow the flow of rainwater.
Article continues below this advertisement “Any idea can have a wider benefit of reducing storm overflows to ensure that the Isle of Wight can have clean rivers and seas.”
You can find out more about the fund and different SuDS solutions at a drop-in event on Friday 4th October, between 12:00 and 16:00 at The Isle of Wight Community Club, Park Road, Cowes.
You can make your application between now and 3rd November. Visit our website for more details about how to apply SuDs Community Fund (southernwater.co.uk).
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