Surface water drainage is taken for granted. We expect all those grates and gulleys to cope with anything, right? Even when we don’t bother to make sure they’re capable of taking the strain.

And it’s not hard to see how drains become clogged — general silt and debris such as leaf mulch will quickly block surface water gullies and ACO drainage.

If surface water drainage isn’t taking rainwater effectively, it can cause flooding, ponding and, in icy weather, major slip hazards, not to mention deterioration in surfaces like tarmac.

Recent years have seen increased incidents of flooding in the UK, thanks to ever more erratic weather fronts and the increased use of impermeable surfaces in the urban environment. Our surface water drains have been overwhelmed by the volume of water, time and again.

To have a fighting chance of avoiding such scenes, surface water drains, gulleys and ACO channels need to be checked and cleaned out regularly. Yet, the majority of organisations still leave it all to chance.