Multiple Benefit Sustainable Drainage Systems
- WireNews
- Jul 28, 2021
- 1 min read
Report published. Recommendations to update the non-statutory technical standards to provide for multiple benefit Sustainable Drainage Systems in England

The project investigated whether updating the current non-statutory technical standards could help provide for multiple benefit Sustainable Drainage Systems, and if so, what those updates might be. Based on the findings, recommendations are made to replace the current standards 1 to 6 with a new suite of standards. The new standards would cover the following:
Standard 1: Runoff destinations
Standard 2: Everyday rainfall
Standard 3: Extreme rainfall
Standard 4: Water quality
Standard 5: Amenity
Standard 6: Biodiversity
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will use this research to inform its drainage policy development.
Documents
The report can be accessed on Defra’s science search page.