SDS has been requested by United Utilities to install its Intellistorm®-equipped rainwater harvesting tanks at up to 75 residential properties in the Lancashire village of Wrea Green.

Staff from United Utilities and SDS are currently working together to recruit homeowners to participate in the Water Company’s largest trial of the smart technology, following the early success and positive customer feedback from pilot schemes recently introduced elsewhere in the county.

Householders are being offered a free smart tank as part of a United Utilities project to explore new solutions to reduce flooding and pollution. The tanks automatically release water before a rainstorm in order to make space for the rainfall that the system has forecasted to arrive, thus helping to prevent the drains from getting overwhelmed by holding back water when the pipes and roads are at risk of overflowing or flooding.

Each tank is fitted with a mini computer which enables it to communicate with SDS SYMBiotIC™ software, enabling it to accurately calculate how much water to release in order to provide maximum possible attenuation and send data back to enable calculations about attenuation volumes.

Project Manager Alice Denholm said: “By installing smart water butts free of charge in Wrea Green we can help reduce surface water flooding in the village. We’re looking for at least 75 downpipes on houses in the village where we can install one of these special tanks. If homeowners want more than one and they have a suitable location on their property, that’s absolutely fine. This project will help prevent emergency overflows from the sewers and will give homeowners a source of water for their gardens, too.”