Living with Water is looking at solutions to protect Hull and the East Riding from flooding – and you can be part of it.
One of the biggest contributors to flooding in the region is surface water caused by heavy rainfall.
But you can help prevent thousands of litres of rainwater from entering our drains and sewers every year by installing a water butt, helping to play your part in protecting our communities from surface water flooding.
What is surface water flooding?
This can occur when large amounts of rainfall overwhelm underground drainage and sewer systems during peak storms, causing water to accumulate and flow over the surface.
Our weather patterns are also changing, with climate change creating more frequent, severe weather conditions – hotter, drier summers and warmer, wetter winters with 20-50% more rain.
The hard ground after a summer dry spell means that when it rains, water runs off rather than absorbing into the ground. In winter, heavy rain runs off hard surfaces such as roofs, roads and pavements.
How do water butts help to manage surface water?
Water butts connect to your drainpipe and capture rainwater that falls on your roof.
This prevents litres of excess water from entering our drains and sewers, easing pressure on our systems and helping to reduce the risk of surface water flooding.
Did you know 90,000 litres of rainwater falls on a roof in just one year? Or that you can save around 5,000 litres of water a year by collecting rainwater in a water butt?1
Are there more reasons why I should install a water butt?
Yes! As well as helping to reduce surface water flood risk, there are several other benefits of installing a water butt at your home:
- Provides a fresh supply of rainwater - ideal for topping up ponds and washing the car
- Rainwater has more nutrients so your plants and gardens will love it
- Reduces your clean water consumption during periods of peak summer demand, lowering your bills.
- Easy to install - you can start saving straight away
One water butt can hold up to 200 litres of water, which is the same as 20 full washing up bowls.
Water butt giveaway
Over the past few years, Living with Water has given out 500 free 227lr water butts to community groups and residents in Hull and Haltemprice to mitigate surface water flooding and save water.
This scheme has now closed and we are no longer accepting applications for a free water butt. However, we may relaunch this programme again in the future so please keep checking back to the Living with Water website for more details.
Here are some of the 500 that we installed
1. Source: Yorkshire Water
