Evaluating the Performance of Stormwater Drainage Systems (Research Paper Sample)

Evaluating the Performance of Stormwater Drainage Systems
Introduction
Project Background
Flooding is one of the most catastrophic natural calamities globally, claiming lives and posing hazards to the ecology, infrastructure and service delivery. The hydrological balance is affected by the rapid emergence of settlements and irregular urbanization caused by population growth and industries in emerging cities and towns. The evolution of land use is linked to the rise and expansion of floods caused by an increasing proportion of total land areas covered with impervious surfaces and decreasing water infiltration to the ground. Roofs, roads, and pavements are examples of infrastructure development that cover a large percentage of the land and generate surface runoff. (Miller & Hutchins, 2017a). Flood management worldwide is based on risk analysis, with the possibility of flooding and its repercussions estimated in terms of damage and magnitude (Miller & Hutchins, 2017b). Urbanization increases the frequency of high-flowing precipitation through conveying networks that ignore soil moisture and groundwater replacement (Jato-Espino, Charles worth, et al., 2016). Because of the growth in impervious surfaces in areas, runoff volume is significantly increased, resulting in stormwater drainage systems exceeding their planned capacity. This is because all of these events have caused even a tiny amount of rainfall, from an altered urban catchment to a flood. The leading causes of urban floods include growing population density, growth of built-up areas without appropriate consideration of the drainage system capacity, and expanded impervious surfaces in the area. As a result, floods wreak havoc on storm drains, roads deteriorate, and storm drains become clogged due to solid waste, causing flood peaks and volumes to rise. Urban drainage infrastructures have traditionally been used to reduce runoff accumulation to deal with these negative urban water issues (Jato-Espino, Sillanpää, et al., 2016). The purpose of the urban drainage system is to quickly remove stormwater runoff through drainage networks made up of a succession of pipes and maintenance holes connected to the outlet point. However, these drainage networks cannot adequately dispose of the inflows, potentially resulting in flooding and network surcharges. Engineers have created hydrological models for rainfall-runoff simulation and flood routing in the stormwater network to evaluate floods in urban areas and check the operation of urban drainage systems. EPA SWMM 5.1 is one example of software used to model urban floods and drainage systems (Urban_Flood_Modelling_and_Management_usi, n.d.). The EPA-SWMM is one of the most accurate and widely used models for planning and designing modern drainage systems globally. SWMM is more advantageous and accurate compared to other hydrological models. It is used to model large urban watersheds that depict the hydrological water balance and drainage systems used for wastewater management. 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Due to various practical challenges, most models produce significant inaccuracies when simulating complicated hydraulic and hydrologic systems. Runoff generation and runoff models are combined in mathematical models. The runoff generated by hydrological models transforms rainfall into the surface runoff, which then flows into the catchment outflow. SWMM was used to evaluate the performance of drainage systems. It is one of the most utilised hydrological models across the world. San Diego's State campus area's tremendous growth has not been matched by adequate storm drainage system expansion and enhancements. The current system has become inappropriate as the area has grown, resulting in more frequent surface water flooding caused by rainfall. As a result, stormwater drainage issues such as overflowing and floods are common in the San Diego campus area. The area's inlet and outlet structures were built without taking into account the capacity of the existing drainage system. As a result, assessing the drainage system's performance is necessary.
Project Goal
San Diego college area uses corrugated metal pipes and open channels to manage storm water during rainy seasons. A lot of construction activities and developments are taking place within the area. Thus, available permeable land is reducing. As a result, more and more runoff joining the open drains results in overflows at many locations. Due to heavy rainfall, lots of places get inundated on around the campus. Less maintenance of drain is also a reason for flood inundation as the capacity of the drain to carry storm water has reduced over time. This has caused many environmental problems like flooding and the spreading of waterborne diseases in the areas. Therefore, there is a need to evaluate and modify the drainage network of the area to carry the excess rainwater and reduce the inundation.
An image showing flooded San Diego College area
Research Justification
Evaluating the performance of a drainage system is one of the important steps in its maintenance and redesigning (Burian & Edwards, 2002). Simulation capabilities allow evaluation and optimization of the drainage systems to suit future demands of the society and environment. With the advent of technology in GIS and Hydrological models, designing and simulating drainage systems can be done with higher accuracy and efficiency. Improperly designed drainage systems can lead to catastrophic consequences and losses in an institution e.g., the cost of maintenance and redesigning is very high, flooding causes demolition of infrastructure, the spread of waterborne diseases, and delays in services delivery caused by flooded roads (Pale et al., n.d.). This study focuses on providing recommendations and on how to reduce flooding in the area by outlining the weakness of the existing drainage system
Research objectives
The main objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of San Diego campus area drainage systems
The specific objectives are;
1. To map the land use and land cover of the San Diego campus area
2. To evaluate the peak runoff from the sub-catchments
3. To simulate the performance of the drainage system
Literature review
Overview
This chapter summarizes the fundamental principles of urban stormwater drainage systems. It starts with a history of urban rainwater drainage and a basic understanding of the concept. It then looks at the history and policy of urban rainwater drainage, the evolution of urban rainwater drainage and its problems, and experiences with urban rainwater drainage as the primary issues. Finally, the best management strategies and tools for selecting them and the stormwater drainage evaluation criteria have been defined. In general, it contains many theories and notions about this research study that various researchers have uncovered.
The Development of Urban Drainage
Throughout history, different views on urban drainage systems have been expressed. Urban drainage has been considered a crucial natural resource, a convenient cleansing mechanism, an effective waste transport medium, a wastewater conveyer, a nuisance discharge, and a disease carrier at various times and places. Climate, geography, geology, scientific understanding, engineering and building expertise, social norms, religious beliefs, and other considerations have all impacted how residents view urban drainage. These factors have pushed and hampered the development of urban drainage systems for as long as people have been creating cities. Historical sources offer a diverse range of essential and unusual urban drainage strategies. ADDIN CSL_CITATION {"citationItems":[{"id":"ITEM-1","itemData":{"DOI":"10.1061/40644(2002)284","ISBN":"0784406448","abstract":"Historically, urban drainage systems have been viewed with various perspectives. During different time periods and in different locations, urban drainage has been considered a vital natural resource, a convenient cleansing mechanism, an efficient waste transport medium, a flooding concern, a nuisance wastewater, and a transmitter of disease. In general, climate, topography, geology, scientific knowledge, engineering and construction capabilities, societal values, religious beliefs, and other factors have influenced the local perspective of urban drainage. For as long as humans have been constructing cities these factors have guided and constrained the development of urban drainage solutions. Historical accounts provide glimpses of many inter...