Karen Scott

Department of Geography

University of Hull
Cottingham Road
Hull, HU6 7RX
Tel: +44 (0)1482 465039
Fax: +44 (0)1482 466340
Email: k.scott@2005.hull.ac.uk

2003 – 2006 BSc (Hons) Applied Animal Behaviour and Training, Bishop Burton College
2007 – 2008 MSc Biological Sciences, The University of Hull

Aiding Flood Prevention via Sustainable Solutions for Roadside Gully Cleansing

Blocked roadside gully pots were partially blamed for exacerbating the floods in the city of Hull during the 2007 floods. Gully pots (also known as catch basins) are small sumps located in the roadside gutter which act as runoff inlet points to drainage networks. They are an important component of urban drainage, with over 17 million examples in service throughout England and Wales. Their main purpose is to retain sediments from road runoff, leaves and organic litter in order to avoid blockages or hydraulic restriction in the drainage system. Gully pots collect significantly large amounts of detritus therefore require regular mechanical cleaning to prevent blockages which could cause flooding.

Little is known of the physical and chemical processes operating within gully pots, despite the fact that the decomposition rate of matter may have a significant impact upon the frequency with which the pots require emptying. Previous research on gully pots has investigated factors which include runoff quality, sediment supply, solid trapping efficiency and gully pot sediment aging. However the decomposition processes occurring within the gully pot have not yet been examined. Understanding these internal processes, and whether climate and catchment area have the potential to affect them, is an important element in developing sustainable solutions for managing gully pots and reducing the likelihood of drainage system blockages.

Main Research Aims

• To investigate the decomposition processes occurring within gully pots
• To identify whether climate (temperature and runoff) and geographical variations (e.g. catchment area/contributions from surrounding foliage) have any impact upon the processes occurring.
• To investigate methods to assist with speeding up decomposition within the gully pots.

Research Methods

This study is based on gully pots in the city of Kingston upon Hull, U.K. that has a population of over 250,000 and over 73,000 gully pots. Preliminary experiments were devised to gain a basic understanding of internal gully pot processes and to establish the decomposition state of the contents ex situ. This included measuring the microbial activity as well as the composting ability of the contents. These findings allow further investigation into the processes, which is currently being undertaken, subjecting them to a range of ‘seasonal’ conditions. This can greatly assist the final phase of the research, which is to determine the activity of the contents in situ via replica gully pots, while investigating methods to assist with speeding up the decomposition rate.

Conference Presentations

• International Conference on Solid Waste, Moving Towards Sustainable Resource Management, 2011, Hong Kong

Supervisors

• Professor Thomas Coulthard (Dept. Geography)
• Dr. John Adams (ETCIC)