£14m Thames rain drain plan to cut flood risk

RAINWATER falling on the big gest regeneration area in central London will be drained straight into the Thames to prevent it flooding the capital’s overstretched sewers.

The radical environmental initiative was today unveiled at Nine Elms, the South Bank zone being transformed between Vauxhall and Battersea Power Station.

The £14 million project is the biggest sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS) in the UK. New buildings and landscaping will capture the water and channel it to large pipes buried beneath the new Nine Elms park. The water will then be pumped into the Thames by a new pumping station.

Richard Aylard, sustainability director at Thames Water, said: “By keeping the rain out of our combined sewers we are reducing the risk of flooding, pollution and pressure on our sewers.

“This will become especially important in the long term as London’s population continues to grow rapidly and the climate changes. It is about putting surface water back where it belongs — in the river.” The project, which captures rain falling on an area equivalent to 20 football pitches, reduces flood risk and avoids the need to treat the water as if it had gone into the sewers and mixed with raw sewage and waste water from homes and businesses.

The Nine Elms area is being regenerated with the arrival of the US Embassy, the redevelopment of the power station and the building of two Tube stations on a new spur of the Northern line.

Other eco-friendly rainwater features will include green roofs, swales — ditches with vegetation used to remove pollutants — and streets with rainwater gardens that allow water to evaporate, irrigate plants and reduce the volume flowing into the river.

Ravi Govindia, leader of Wandsworth council and co-chair of the Nine Elms Vauxhall Partnership, said: “This is the city’s most ambitious sustainable drainage network and a real step forward for London’s green infrastructure.

“In the months ahead we will see the opening of the new US Embassy, a new Riverbus pier and the launch of the new ‘village hall’, shops, restaurants, bars and public spaces on the Battersea Power Station site.”