The £8.4 million Derringham Aqua Greens project in Hull has used a landfill drainage product in a sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) application for the first time.
The scheme, delivered through the Living With Water partnership, includes six basins designed to store stormwater during heavy rainfall and release flows slowly back to the sewer network when capacity is available.
Three of the basins were lined with Naue Secudrain, a structured geocomposite drainage product normally used in landfill leachate containment. The remaining three basins were left unlined to test how the local clay subsoil filters water naturally.
Derringham Aqua Greens supports Hull flood resilience
The Derringham Aqua Greens project was developed by Living With Water, a partnership between Yorkshire Water, Hull City Council, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, the Environment Agency and the University of Hull.
The project was delivered with construction partner Mott MacDonald Bentley and completed in August 2025.
The basins are designed to hold rainfall close to where it lands. This reduces pressure on the sewer network during periods of intense rain and helps lower flood risk for nearby properties.
High groundwater shaped the liner design
SIG Construction Accessories was engaged early in the project to support product specification. During detailed design, the team identified that the original lining proposal would not fully meet the site requirements.
Because long-term groundwater monitoring had not been possible before design, groundwater had to be assumed at ground level. This meant an additional drainage layer was needed beneath the liner to reduce the risk of flotation.
Jason Bland, head of power and utilities at SIG CA, said: “Due to the high water table at the site, an additional composite drainage layer was required. When our German supply chain partner Naue ran calculations, the partners were assured that the company’s SecuDrain product could meet the groundwater flow rates and was the best product for the job.”
Secudrain replaces mineral drainage layers
Secudrain was selected as an alternative to thick mineral gravel or crushed stone drainage layers. The product reduced the volume of material required, simplified installation and cut transport demand while maintaining drainage performance.
The liner was installed between December 2023 and January 2024 during a wet construction period. SIG CA and Naue attended site to support the installation.
Bland said: “The crossover of SecuDrain from use on landfill sites for leachate containment to water industry SuDS schemes makes good sense – rainwater run-off is itself a contaminated leachate and goes through the same Environment Agency approval process.”
Water companies look to nature-based SuDS
The project comes as water companies prepare for increased investment in nature-based drainage and flood resilience during AMP8.
Fiona Booth, design lead at Mott MacDonald, said: “The Derringham Aqua Greens Project is a flagship flood resilience project for the Living With Water partnership. By engaging early-on with our framework partners and supplier community, we quickly identified the Naue SecuDrain lining system proposed by SIG Construction Accessories.
“This is the first time this liner has been used in a SuDS application, but with a big push for nature-based drainage schemes in water companies’ AMP8 asset management plans, we are already hoping to put it to good use in similar projects in the future.”
Since completion, the partners say the Aqua Greens basins have helped protect hundreds of properties during heavy rainfall. The project also shows how blue-green infrastructure can provide stormwater storage while supporting biodiversity and community access to green space.
