SRA Annual Report 2024-25: Chard Urban Run-off Butts
Free water butts were offered to people in selected parts of Chard, to try to reduce the amount of water running off from gutters on people’s homes into Chard’s drainage networks. Wessex Water led this scheme, working together with Somerset Council, Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA), Chard Town Council and Chard Area Resilience Group (CARG).
In a trial first phase in 2023 (covered in the SRA Annual Report 2023-24), 74 free water butts were ordered from and delivered by Wessex Water.
In a second bigger phase which started in August 2024, 987 properties were sent letters offering water butts, 506 were ordered and delivered by Wessex Water to 282 households.
One reason why Chard has flooded badly in recent years is that too much surface water has been running over land and overwhelming Chard’s drainage networks. These networks consist of road drains, culverted watercourses, surface water sewers and combined sewers. Combined sewers take rainwater that runs off from gutters, drains and roads, as well as wastewater from homes and businesses.
Water butts drained down to lower levels or completely emptied out before periods of heavy rain have stored water that would otherwise have flowed into Chard’s drainage networks. Further measures to reduce the risks of surface water flooding are being considered by SRA partners and Chard residents. Meanwhile, in a £1.3million project designed to address historic problems with sewer flooding during periods of heavy rain, Wessex Water has been installing larger pipes in the Furnham Road / Glynswood area of Chard.