To think that you shouldnt construct a "deep water" pond in the middle of a new housing estate

[Whatnowffs]

I nipped through a newly built housing development the other week (another thread on here reminded me about deep water and children, but not a thread about a thread! and there was a pond, with a warning sign - warning, deep water. It was never there before, they made it - this is a housing development aimed i would say, principally towards young families. Lots of cul-de-sacs where it would be arguably "safe" for older children to play out. But NOT safe for them to be hanging around a deep water pond.

AIBU to think WTAF??? I have seen this on another newbuild estate too (an even bigger pond actually - with fishing!!!!! but at least this one is fenced off, but not locked!

Have the planners gone MAD???

[germyrabbit]

the only thing that would worry me about a 'deep' pond would be flooding potential, there must be a reason why it's there!

if's it's ornamental it would seem a bit silly

[WaitingforStork]

It's part of a sustainable urban drainage system, SUDS scheme. New SEPA (and English equivalent) regulations require drainage run off to go through two levels of treatment before it is discharged back to groundwater to remove pollution. The ditches that one poster mentions are baked swales and are for the same purpose. A common system is to have swales which catch the road run off and take it to the pond where it will eventually drain back into the ground. There are two types of pond, attenuation and detention based on whether it is designed to be wet all the time, this will depend on amount of run off and existing ground water level. There is one near me that is little more than a reed bed most of the time.

One reason for them is that water authorities don't like to accept additional discharge to their drainage network as they are often already full to capacity and it can cause flooding issues. When new developments take place on existing green land the absorption property of the land is severely decreased and provision has to be made for the water to go somewhere.

In some cases they are fenced off but others aren't, they can make a lovely feature and a good habitat for wildlife. I think all children should be supervised near yards and taught the dangers of water but think that a pond on an estate would be a nice feature, could take dc to feed the ducks, model boats etc.

Just as you wouldn't let children play on roads or leave them unsupervised by traffic you need to teach them to respect water. In the worst case scenario, the design of there ponds also has to include safety provision such as life rings and you will probably find that the sides are stepped banks, not just a sheer face, so that it is possible to climb out.

Sorry for essay, am a civil engineer, though currently on maternity leave and enjoyed discussing something other than how many nappies I've changed today! Your local council should be cake to give you access to detailed plans if asked.

Right, feed finished, can go back to bed now...

[WaitingforStork]

It's part of a sustainable urban drainage system, SUDS scheme. New SEPA (and English equivalent) regulations require drainage run off to go through two levels of treatment before it is discharged back to groundwater to remove pollution. The ditches that one poster mentions are baked swales and are for the same purpose. A common system is to have swales which catch the road run off and take it to the pond where it will eventually drain back into the ground. There are two types of pond, attenuation and detention based on whether it is designed to be wet all the time, this will depend on amount of run off and existing ground water level. There is one near me that is little more than a reed bed most of the time.

One reason for them is that water authorities don't like to accept additional discharge to their drainage network as they are often already full to capacity and it can cause flooding issues. When new developments take place on existing green land the absorption property of the land is severely decreased and provision has to be made for the water to go somewhere.

In some cases they are fenced off but others aren't, they can make a lovely feature and a good habitat for wildlife. I think all children should be supervised near yards and taught the dangers of water but think that a pond on an estate would be a nice feature, could take dc to feed the ducks, model boats etc.

Just as you wouldn't let children play on roads or leave them unsupervised by traffic you need to teach them to respect water. In the worst case scenario, the design of there ponds also has to include safety provision such as life rings and you will probably find that the sides are stepped banks, not just a sheer face, so that it is possible to climb out.

Sorry for essay, am a civil engineer, though currently on maternity leave and enjoyed discussing something other than how many nappies I've changed today! Your local council should be able to give you access to detailed plans if asked.

Right, feed finished, can go back to bed now...

[BikeRunSki]

What waiting said (hello fellow civ eng, also on mat leave). The problem with unfenced ponds, is that if someone climbs the fence and is injured, then the land owner of that fence is responsible for that injury. My employer is also a big land owner, people are always trying to sue us for falling off our flood walls when they ate drunk, so we now have to use pointed coping stones.