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What is Stormwater Drainage System?
13 Important Points
By Pooja | July 11, 2021 |
Civil Engineering, (https://www.gcelab.com/blog/category/civil-engineering)
Drainage Engineering, (https://www.gcelab.com/blog/category/drainage-engineering)
Innovation, (https://www.gcelab.com/blog/category/innovation)
(https://youtu.be/H5nn3atpLdY)
Table of Contents
What is a stormwater drainage system?
What is the purpose of the stormwater drainage system?
Where does storm drain water go?
Does storm drains connect to the sewage system?
Do storm drains lead to the sea or ocean?
What is surface water flooding?
What is a poor drainage system?
How to prevent surface water flooding?
What are the innovative stormwater drainage solutions?
Difference between stormwater and wastewater
Stormwater Management
How does storm-water management help?
Integrated Water Management
What is a stormwater drainage system?
Rainfall results in the formation of stormwater. Stormwater that is not absorbed by the ground due to impermeable pavement or
hard surface, spills over to the road or hard surface, is collected by the underground drainage system, called the stormwater
drainage system.
What is the purpose of the stormwater drainage system?
The purpose of civil drainage is to collect rainfall runoff from all across the city and discharge it slowly to the downstream river or
natural water catchments. Stormwater drainage systems frequently collaborate with the environment, channeling, attenuating,
and discharging stormwater through natural features such as lakes, ditches, ponds, swales, streams, etc.
Where does storm drain water go?
Water rushes off hard surfaces such as roads, parking bays, rooftops, pathways, and driveways into stormwater drains. In an
urban setting, stormwater drains out to the smaller pipes that connect to larger stormwater pipes, and that finally connects to
oversized drains or pipes that transport the water to the outfall points such as streams, and creeks, rivers, and/ or the ocean.
(https://youtu.be/nXoksSCsXds?si=5SjHLZlF7IdLi8Qm)
Does storm drains connect to the sewage system?
The storm system is distinct from the sewage system and just caters to rainwater and groundwater. It also prevents flooding by
attenuating surface water. The storm sewer system that drains surface water directly to the nearest outfall such as stream or
pond or river, is connected to the drainage system that you usually see on the roads, footway, and parking bays”.
Do storm drains lead to the sea or ocean?
The sewage water that comes from the household such as the kitchen sink or toilet in your home, is untreated water and
therefore goes first for treatment and then discharges to the nearby outfall points. Stormwater is normally not significantly
contaminated, so it needs a relatively simpler treatment process before discharging to the outfall points such as streams, lakes,
rivers, or the ocean.
What is surface water flooding?
When rainwater does not drain away through typical drainage systems or does not trickle down to the permeable ground earth,
but instead lies on or flows over the ground, surface water flooding occurs. The responsibility of managing or controlling the risk
of surface water flooding comes under the purview of the lead local flood authority or agency.
What is a poor drainage system?
The poor drainage system can cause flooding, resulting in property loss and possibly causing people to relocate to avoid the
floodwaters. Flooding can also wreak havoc on water supply infrastructure and pollute home water supplies. Following are some
well-known common causes of poor drainage systems:
Heavy storms or rains than the designed pipe network capacity
Damaged Pipes
Incorrect Pipe Installation
Inadequate Water flow system through gravity.
Blockage in the pipe network due to unknown objects
Poor or infrequent maintenance of drainage network
How to prevent surface water flooding?
A sustainable drainage system (Suds) is a natural way to manage surface water that can be employed in any form of
development:
Roofs with plants on them (https://www.gcelab.com/blog/what-is-green-roof-system-and-its-advantages/).
Permeable surfaces (https://www.gcelab.com/blog/what-is-hot-mix-asphalt-pavement-its-types/#Porous_Asphalt) are
those that allow water to pass through.
Filter drains and filter strips are used in infiltration trenches.
Swales are a type of shallow drainage canal.
Wetlands, detention basins, and purpose-built ponds
What are the innovative stormwater drainage solutions?
Here are four programs that change stormwater from a waste to a resource, ranging from building thriving wetlands to reducing
the demand for potable water supplies:
Big Plans for Small Creek
A new water sources
Going green
Underground engineering
Difference between stormwater and wastewater
Stormwater is water that drains into a street drainage system from rain and other sources and discharges to the downstream
river or pond or creeks. Flooding and bank erosion are prevented by stormwater drainage systems.
Water from households and businesses is the main source of wastewater. Before wastewater is discharged to the nearby
streams or creeks, it is very important to treat them.
(https://youtu.be/UGxjykXzqP0?si=wZkmyGEcyPyS33KI)
Stormwater Management
Stormwater management is the attempt to limit rainwater or melted snow runoff into streets, open ground, and other locations
while also improving water quality. Stormwater is filtered when it is trickled down to the existing ground soil and eventually fills
the aquifers or runs into nearby streams and rivers.
When heavy rains fall, however, the saturated earth produces surplus moisture that seeps across the ground and then to the
storm drains and finally to the downstream ditches. It caters to debris, eroded soil mass, bacteria, chemical substances, and
other forms of pollutants and is therefore treated (by the downstream defender) before discharging to the stream or river just
before the outfall point.
How does storm-water management help?
In urban settings, impervious surfaces like road pavement, footways, rooftops obstruct the rainwater from naturally soaking into
the existing ground. Instead, the stormwater rushes into the storm drain system, through gully & pipe network
(https://www.gcelab.com/blog/what-is-road-gully-spacing-thumb-rule/#What_is_Road_Gully), drainage ditches, etc, and its
causes flooding, contamination, turbidity (or muddiness), sometimes overflowing storm and sanitary sewer systems, and finally
damages the infrastructure and properties.
Stormwater management and green infrastructure, on the other hand, aim to collect and reuse stormwater in order to preserve or
reinstate natural hydrologists. Stormwater management is primarily concerned with retaining stormwater and eliminating
pollutants.
Stormwater management includes porous surfaces that allow rain to trickle down into the ground soil. It also manages grey
infrastructures such as culverts, orifices, storm sewers, and traditional piped drainage networks, and aims to restore or mimic the
natural water cycle.
Integrated Water Management
Integrated water management (IWM) of stormwater helps to minimize or eliminate various potential issues such as the health of
rivers or waterways and challenges of the water supply system due to the rapid urban agglomeration. IWM is commonly
associated with green infrastructure management and prefers to be involved during the early stages of the design process.
It helps to identify and mitigate major roadblocks at the early stage of design and a well-integrated infrastructure can be
developed. Infrastructure development and urban growth result in increased demands for robust surface water drainage
systems.
Although climate change and reduction in the green field are two very important factors to consider while designing the proposed
drainage system (https://www.gcelab.com/course-details/drainage-engineering-and-design). It is recommended to consider a
20% uplift in surface water quantity due to the climate change factor and maintain the greenfield runoff rate at the outfall
location.
Read More:
What is Road Gully Spacing Thumb Rule? 6 Important Points (https://www.gcelab.com/blog/what-is-road-gully-spacing-
thumb-rule/)
How to become a successful Drainage Engineer – 5 Key Points (https://www.gcelab.com/blog/drainage-engineer-salary-
job-career/)
That means provision of an attenuation system, stormwater harvesting (to decrease the amount of water that can cause a
potential for flooding), infiltration (to reestablish natural groundwater recharge), bio-retention or biofiltration (e.g., rain gardens) to
accumulate and treat runoff and discharge it at a controlled rate (by flow control devices (https://www.gcelab.com/blog/what-is-
drainage-flow-control-device/)) to lessen the impact on the down streams, and wetland treatment solutions are some non-
exhaustive solutions to be explored by the designers.
(https://youtu.be/XOVNXsk5Xjw)
The most common solution is to provide land-based treatment such as attenuation ponds (https://www.susdrain.org/delivering-
suds/using-suds/suds-components/retention_and_detention/retention_ponds.html), infiltration trenches, bioswales, permeable
paving, etc to reduce stormwater runoff. Engineered, manufactured items can also be used to accomplish comparable, or
possibly better, effects than land-based systems.
The ideal LID solution balances the anticipated outcomes (runoff and contamination management) with the associated costs.
IWM, is still in its early days, bringing together components of drainage, hydrology, ecology, and the recognition that old-style
drainage solutions only push issues downstream, putting the environment and natural water supplies at risk.
I hope this blog will help you understand the stormwater drainage system and its associated advantages, disadvantages, etc.
Please feel free to like, share and comment.
Admin, gcelab.com (https://www.gcelab.com/)
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Read More:
Drainage Engineering Online Course: 4 Important Modules (https://www.gcelab.com/blog/drainage-engineering-online-
course/)
What is Drainage Flow Control Device? 7 Important Points (https://www.gcelab.com/blog/what-is-drainage-flow-control-
device/)
Pooja
Founder at gcelab.com, Pooja is an Entrepreneur unlocking human potential. Working in the Principles of Lean Start-up, Pooja believes in Transparency and User
Happiness the most. Pooja’s background in teaching gives her a sophisticated grasp on even the most tedious aspect of course building. She is passionate about
people who believe that good is not enough.
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