Medium-term performance and maintenance of SUDS: a case-study of Hopwood Park Motorway Service Area, UK.

One of the main barriers to implementing SUDS is concern about performance and maintenance costs since there are few well-documented case-studies. This paper summarizes studies conducted between 2000 and 2008 of the performance and maintenance of four SUDS management trains constructed in 1999 at the Hopwood Park Motorway Service Area, central England. Assessments were made of the wildlife value and sedimentation in the SUDS ponds, the hydraulic performance of the coach park management train, water quality in all management trains, and soil/sediment composition in the grass filter strip, interceptor and ponds. Maintenance procedures and costs were also reviewed. Results demonstrate the benefits of a management train approach over individual SUDS units for flow attenuation, water treatment, spillage containment and maintenance. Peak flows, pond sediment depth and contaminant concentrations in sediment and water decreased through the coach park management train. Of the 2007 annual landscape budget of pounds 15,000 for the whole site, the maintenance costs for SUDS only accounted for pounds 2,500 compared to pounds 4,000 for conventional drainage structures. Furthermore, since sediment has been attenuated in the management trains, the cost of sediment removal after the recommended period of three years was only pounds 554 and, if the design is not compromised, less frequent removal will be required in future.

Can biosensors help to protect drinking water?

A large proportion of drinking water is abstracted for treatment from lowland rivers--about 30% in the UK--and this water is at particular risk from sudden and poisonous industrial or agricultural pollution. To cover the range of potential pollutants it may be possible to use biosensors as broadband monitors for toxins. The underlying assumption is that some biological processes, when challenged with a toxin, will be affected in a way analogous to that of man, and that therefore on-line scrutiny of such processes will provide early warning of substances liable to be detrimental to human health. Suitable processes for study might involve multi-cellular organisms, whole cells or enzymes. To date, most practical work has concentrated on fish, but enzymes and single cells hold out the promise of quicker response and, possibly, easier maintenance.