STORMWATER MANAGEMENT RESOURCES

• SWAN Corner: Optimizing Data Intelligence Helps Orlando Protect Its Citizens During Heavy Rain Events

  The City of Orlando Streets and Stormwater Division is responsible for maintaining and improving drainage facilities to prevent flooding and ensure all receiving water bodies meet state and federal water quality standards. They oversee upwards of 100 lakes within the City and approximately 147 drainage wells with 70 monitoring stations for lakes and waterways, and have 23 rainfall stations collecting data by telemetry over a cellular network. The Streets and Stormwater Division keeps two million people safe from flooding during heavy summer rainfalls and periodic tropical events. 

• What’s A 100-Year Flood? A Hydrologist Explains

  A 100-year flood, like a 100-year storm, is one so severe it has only a 1 percent chance of hitting in any given year. Unfortunately, many people believe that if they experienced a 100-year flood this year, they will not see another one like it for 99 years. It just doesn’t work that way. In reality, the chance of being flooded next year, and the year after that, is the same as it was when the house flooded the first time — 1 percent.

• SWAN Corner: Wet Weather Measurement Means More Than Scratching The Surface

  Wet weather is a continuous concern for wastewater utilities. Rain-derived infiltration and inflow (RDII) challenges the collection system capacity. It can potentially result in overflows in the collection system and even the wastewater recovery facility (WRF) in extreme cases. These overflows can threaten public health and the environment. Additionally, higher flow volumes associated with wet weather will increase operating costs at the WRF.

• PFOA/PFOS Stormwater Treatment

  Following several years of piloting ion exchange resin for the removal of perfluorinated compounds, CKS Engineers needed to design and construct a full-scale system to treat the former military base stormwater runoff before entering Neshaminy Creek.

• Assessing Impacts Of Green Infrastructure On Groundwater Quality

  Typical stormwater management design – pipes, sewers, and collection systems – is intended to transport rainwater runoff to sewage treatment plants or surface water bodies, since the impervious surfaces of streets and cityscapes do not allow rainwater to soak into the ground. While this design is intended to reduce flooding of streets and buildings, it can actually increase the risk of flooding and erosion when large volumes of stormwater overwhelms the treatment plants and directly enter surface waters. When the rainwater does not soak into the ground where it falls, the underground storage volume of water decreases, and the underground water supply is not replenished. Green Infrastructure (GI) is designed to mimic natural systems by allowing more rainwater to soak into the ground rather than be transported away. GI is designed to reduce stress on wastewater systems, decrease sewer overflows, and improve watershed health.

• How To Do Level Monitoring Better

  Existing level monitoring, usually for combined sewer overflow (CSO) or event duration monitoring (EDM) purposes has been in regular use in the U.K. for over a decade, but the equipment hasn’t changed much in that time. With the current technology comes limitations. So, the question Dave Walker, co-founder and commercial director at wastewater monitoring specialists Detectronic, has been asking is: How can we do level monitoring better for the benefit of water companies, their customers, and the environment?

• Looking Forward: How Digital Solutions Can Save Us From Future Disasters

  Infrastructure rarely makes headlines, but the severe devastation in Texas requires a blunt conversation about aging infrastructure in the U.S. In a strange coincidence, shortly after news and images from Texas shocked the world, ASCE published its 2021 Infrastructure Report Card highlighting the decrepit state of the nation’s infrastructure, and, for the first time, including a report card for stormwater management.

• Why Businesses Could (And Should) Utilize Green Roofs To Become More Resilient

  Green roofs aren’t just for the most progressive, environmentally focused organizations, though early practitioners should be lauded for leading the charge. The stormwater solution also saves money, protects assets, and improves workplaces — all reasons to be broadly implemented.

• Partnering For Equity And Clean Water

  It was the evening of October 1, 2012 at the Rick McDevitt Community Center in Four Corners Park. The cinder block walled room was filled with community members interested in learning about the city’s plans for stopping the flooding and combined sewer spills in their neighborhood. Just three months prior, a 25-year storm delivering 3.5 inches of rain in just four hours flooded streets and filled basements and backyards with toilet paper and sewage. It was then the Mayor promised a plan within 30 days for addressing the problem.

• Floods Will Always Come, But We Can Build Better To Prepare

  As the climate changes, floods and extreme rainfall events will become more intense. In many cases, the most disadvantaged people are at highest risk from floods and least able to bounce back when their homes and businesses are inundated. I saw that dynamic first-hand when I lived through Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Much of my work in its aftermath focused on finding new ways to allow the city to better absorb water, reducing flood risk and easing pressure on drainage systems.