CATCH project

Completed August 2021

We worked with Anglian Water, Broadland District Council and Norwich City Council to find long-term solutions to the problem of surface water flooding in Norwich.

As part of our pilot project, we offered homes, businesses and schools the chance to have a slow-release water butt or rain water planter installed completely free of charge. This project was funded by Anglian Water and the Interreg European Union CATCH climate change and flood reduction project.

Sustainable Urban Drainage (SuDs) can help reduce the risk of flooding by slowing the flow of rainfall into the drains and are designed to gradually release the captured water back into the environment.

The installations were made on a first-come-first-served basis across Norwich. Priority was given to properties in the target areas. However, homes within Norwich that are outside these areas were also considered.

SuDs, like these slow-release water butts and rain water planters, are specially designed to release the captured water back into the drains.

Terms and conditions

It took up to three months between registering interest in the project and receiving a water butt or rain water planter. This was because the project had two phases:

• The expression of interest phase, where we gauged interest and maximised the opportunity to be part of the project, finished at the end of May 2021
• Installation of the SuDs (slow-release water butts) was undertaken by DBS on behalf of the Norse Group, and completed in August 2021

Thank you to everybody who got involved in the project and helped change how we deal with surface water flooding in Norwich.