Water bosses tips for home!

1. Remove tiles from your garden (see hhnk.nl/waterbazen). By replacing tiles in your garden with greenery, water can sink into the soil more easily in that area. This helps prevent flooding during heavy rainfall.

Our vlogger Donya takes a look at a water-friendly garden and hears some useful tips:

Ensure your gutter is clean. If it becomes clogged with leaves or other debris, this can cause flooding. Clean your gutter at least once a year (wachtnietopwater.nl).

Ensure that any ditch bordering your property is kept clean. The ditch must maintain the specified width and depth to ensure proper water inflow and outflow. (https://www.hhnk.nl/slootonderhoud)

Clear away any loose (construction) materials well before a storm so that they do not blow into the ditch.

When it rains heavily, there is a greater risk of flooding. Water can then flow into your home. A water barrier ensures that no water can flow into the house. You place it in front of passageways such as doors before flooding occurs. A barrier can be a tightly fitting board that fits exactly into your doorway.

Temporarily storing rainwater in your garden can be very useful with a rainwater pond or wadi. When it rains, the water does not flow directly into the sewer but goes into the pond. This also reduces the risk of flooding on the street. The water in the pond evaporates slowly and then sinks into the ground. This is good for the groundwater level, plants, and animals. A rainwater pond also keeps your garden nice and cool in the summer, which is great during a hot summer, right?

Of course, the storage capacity of the pond is limited, and heavy rainfall may even cause the pond to overflow. You may therefore want to consider installing an overflow, such as a gutter leading to a ditch or sewer in the neighbourhood.

Biodiversity

A pond contains lots of small insects and other animals and promotes biodiversity in your garden. It's a great way to do your bit, right? Think about gentle and steep banks and more diversity in plants, so that animals can get in and out of the pond more easily.

A pond brings a beautiful piece of nature into your garden. It enriches your garden, promotes biodiversity, and is also useful for collecting excess water in your garden.

If there is a risk of flooding, you can place sandbags at openings such as doors. Also use partitions or plastic, otherwise the water will get through the sandbags. (wachtnietopwater.nl)

In December, when the days get shorter and the holidays are just around the corner, it's time for oliebollen again. You can buy these delicacies at an oliebollen stand, of course, but you can also bake them yourself! If you choose the latter and decide to bake them yourself in oil, don't flush the used fat down the toilet afterwards! This fat causes blockages in the sewers and pumps. Save the packaging and pour the fat back into it after use. On the website Frituurvet Recycle het! (Recycle your frying fat!) , you can find information about where to return the oil.

Submitting fat

You can drop off cooking oil at collection points. These can also neighbourhood in your neighbourhood . Visit:Frituurvet Recycle het! 

Check overstroomik.nl to see how high the water will rise in your home during a flood and think about what you would do (what items do you need? Who/what would you take with you? Etc.).

Put together an emergency kit so you are prepared for disasters or emergencies. Figure out what you need and store the kit in the attic.

Do not enter vulnerable dune areas (people stray from the beaten track and trample the marram grass that prevents the dune sand from blowing away).

Do not dig or build on or around the dikes. This can cause a dike to become unstable.

If you notice damage to a dike after a storm or flooding during a walk, report the damage as soon as possible.