Forum topic: Flooding in Arnos Park
Flooding in Arnos Park
PGC Webmaster
29 Aug 2015 19:19 #1521
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This was the scene in Arnos Park on Wednesday when the Pymmes Brook burst its banks and inundated part of the park, as captured by "Bob" and uploaded to his Vimeo channel.
Reducing or preventing this sort of flash flooding is what Thames 21/Love the Lea are working so hard on. They are deliberately slowing down streams by planting vegetation and creating soakaways. Among the problems that they face, however, are misplumbed houses where waste that should go into sewers instead goes into the pipes that are meant to deal with rainwater. When those flood in heavy rain the waste from toilets gets washed into streams, from which it flows into the Lea and eventually into the Thames.
Another big problem is the number of houses where front gardens have been paved over. If the gardens were still there, rainwater would soak into them, but instead it flows onto the street and down the drains.
What is happening in the Lea?
As an urban waterway the River Lea and its tributaries receive pollution from a variety of sources within the catchment. Right now polluted water enters the Lea through three main avenues:
- Plumbing Misconnections: up to 10% of homes have incorrectly connected dishwashers, washing machines, showers and toilets to drainpipes that lead directly to rivers instead of the sewer.
- Road run-off: when it rains, oil, fuel, dirt and grit from roads is washed down the drains and directly into rivers.
- Sewage overflow: in some areas sewer pipes and storm drains are connected (a combined sewer) meaning that when it rains, rainwater enters the sewage pipes along with household waste. If there is too much water in this system it will overflow, adding human waste into the waterways.
This pollution impacts animal and plant life and discourages people from enjoying the river. Phosphates in laundry soap add the essential element Phosphorus to the river, which in large amounts can lead to the explosive growth of algae, thereby outcompeting other plants in the river system.
To learn more about the sources of pollution click here.
What is Thames21 doing?
Thames21 has recognised that one way to stop polluted water from entering a river and take pressure off aging sewers is to create a natural drainage system or SuDS (Sustainable Drainage Systems). These direct rainwater off roads or car parks onto vegetated green space, so water goes into the ground instead of the drain! This reduces the amount for water in the sewers meaning that the wastewater will make it to the treatment plant to be cleaned instead of overflowing into local watercourses during times of heavy rain.
Click on the graphic to enlarge
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Flooding in Arnos Park
Paul Mandel
30 Aug 2015 10:23 #1522
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Well stop backing mini-Holland then. Enfield Council has admitted this scheme will result in more paved over front gardens
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Flooding in Arnos Park
Karl Brown
30 Aug 2015 10:50 #1524
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But possibly of more relevance: “and the waters will stay contained”, or perhaps not it seems so often of late across the area. What is the relevance of the old manuscript to all this.....
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