Dŵr Cymru launches innovative drainage scheme in Stebonheath School

Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is investing almost £500,000 in a surface water removal scheme at Stebonheath School. The scheme is part of the company’s £15 million RainScape scheme, which will reduce the amount of rainwater entering the local public drainage systems, helping to reduce the risk of sewer flooding.

The investment will transform the primary school’s playground by incorporating green areas, a pond, planters and an outdoor educational area. These features will help absorb the surface water which currently runs straight off the playground into the sewer network.

The school children have been heavily involved in the design of the scheme and participated in a workshop with the engineers where they input into how the playground should look.

The pupils also learnt all about how Welsh Water is planning on tackling the problems of surface water following a day of assemblies and workshops at the end of June with Mary Watkins, Welsh Water’s full time teacher.

The scheme which starts on Monday 23rd July, will be built during the summer holidays and will be ready in time for when the pupils start back at school in September.

The school currently generates 10,000m3 of storm water annually. That is enough to fill four Olympic sized swimming pools. The transformed playground will help to remove 3,000m3 from the sewer network (equivalent to 6 million bottles of drinking water), and will instead put the water back into the natural water cycle through the new plants and trees.

The scheme, will be the second scheme in the area, following the Queen Mary’s Walk scheme which involves installing a ‘swale’ (a shallow vegetated channel) and a range of carefully landscaped plants and flowers to help improve the local landscape.

Nigel Annett, Managing Director for Dŵr Cymru, Welsh Water says: “The scheme at Stebonheath School is a sustainable, future proof system that will help to significantly reduce the risk of sewer flooding in the local area. We are delighted to have Stebonheath School on board. The school will be the first in the UK to have a surface water removal scheme retrofitted into the school grounds. The school will no doubt become a flagship school that other schools and local authorities can learn from.”

Julian Littler, Headteacher at Stebonheath School says: “I am really looking forward to the scheme and the benefits it will bring not only to the school, but to the community. To be able to help reduce the amount of water running into the drainage systems in the locality and avoid possible sewer flooding by developing the school grounds, and be the first school in the UK to do so, gives me an enormous amount of pride.”

Carmarthenshire County Council Executive Board Member for Technical Services, Cllr Colin Evans says: “The authority are very pleased to be working with Dwr Cymru Welsh Water and other partners in delivering solutions to problems brought about by climate change; this scheme is innovative and a sustainable solution, one of a number required to meet challenges brought about by changes in our environment while also accommodating economic growth.”

Welsh Water is investing heavily and working hard to ensure top quality services to all the communities it serves. The company is investing £1.5 billion in its water and sewerage network between 2010 and 2015.

It is a ‘not-for-profit company’ which has been owned by Glas Cymru since 2001. Welsh Water does not have shareholders, and any financial surpluses are reinvested in the business for the benefit of customers.