Search results for "urban drainage"
showing 10 items of 51 documents
Identifiability analysis for receiving water body quality modelling
2009
In urban drainage, new computational possibilities have supported the development of new integrated approaches aimed at joint water quantity and quality analysis of the whole urban drainage system. Although the benefit of an integrated approach has been widely demonstrated, to date, several aspects prevent its applicability such as scarce availability of field data if compared with model complexity. These aspects sometimes prevent the correct estimation of parameters thus leading to large uncertainty in modelling response. This is a typical parameter identifiability problem that is discussed in the present paper evaluating the effect of identifiability procedures in increasing operator conf…
Stormwater infiltration trenches: a conceptual modelling approach.
2009
In recent years, limitations linked to traditional urban drainage schemes have been pointed out and new approaches are developing introducing more natural methods for retaining and/or disposing of stormwater. These mitigation measures are generally called Best Management Practices or Sustainable Urban Drainage System and they include practices such as infiltration and storage tanks in order to reduce the peak flow and retain part of the polluting components. The introduction of such practices in urban drainage systems entails an upgrade of existing modelling frameworks in order to evaluate their efficiency in mitigating the impact of urban drainage systems on receiving water bodies. While s…
Modelling of E. colidistribution in coastal areas subjected to combined sewer overflows
2013
Rivers, lakes and the sea were the natural receivers of raw urban waste and storm waters for a long time but the low sustainability of such practice, the increase of population and a renewed environmental sensibility increased researcher interest in the analysis and mitigation of the impact of urban waters on receiving water bodies (RWB). In Europe, the integrated modelling of drainage systems and RWB has been promoted as a promising approach for implementing the Water Framework Directive. A particular interest is given to the fate of pathogens and especially of Escherichia coli, in all the cases in which an interaction between population and the RWB is foreseen. The present paper aims to p…
Flow hydraulic characteristics determining the occurrence of either smooth or abrupt sewer pressurization
2014
Laboratory experiments showed that pipe pressurization consequent on a drastic reduction in the downstream discharge can occur either by a gradual rising of the free-surface (“smooth” pressurization) or by propagation of a front filling the whole cross-section (“abrupt” pressurization). This study examines the free-surface flow characteristics that determine smooth or abrupt pressurization pattern through a theoretical approach using dimensionless variables. A critical flow rate value, which separates the pressurization patterns, exists for any given pipe diameter. For flow rates higher than this specific value, only abrupt pressurization occurs. For lower flow rates, either smooth or abrup…
An urban drainage stormwater quality model: model development and uncertainty quantification
2010
Summary The evaluation of urban stormwater quality is of relevant importance for urban drainage, and mathematical models may be of great interest in this respect. To date, several detailed mathematical models are available to predict stormwater quantity–quality characteristics in urban drainage systems. However, only a few models take sewer sediments into account, considering their cohesive-like properties that influence the build-up process of the pollutant load. Furthermore, the model data requirements, especially for the quality aspects, are extensive, which limit their applicability and affect model results with large uncertainty. Uncertainty analysis provides a measure or index regardi…
Uncertainty assessment of an integrated urban drainage model
2009
Over the last few years, the use of mathematical models has gained importance in urban drainage system management; indeed, such models enable the combined analysis of different components that constitute a drainage system; the sewer system, wastewater treatment plant and the receiving water body. The effectiveness of an integrated approach has been widely demonstrated in the past and is presented in the EU Water Framework Directive, which also introduces a new point of view regarding the water quality management of the whole system, requiring a global analysis at the river basin scale for pollutant sources. However, integrated urban drainage models introduce several uncertain factors that a…
Assessment of the integrated urban water quality model complexity through identifiability analysis
2010
Urban sources of water pollution have often been cited as the primary cause of poor water quality in receiving water bodies (RWB), and recently many studies have been conducted to investigate both continuous sources, such as wastewater-treatment plant (WWTP) effluents, and intermittent sources, such as combined sewer overflows (CSOs). An urban drainage system must be considered jointly, i.e., by means of an integrated approach. However, although the benefits of an integrated approach have been widely demonstrated, several aspects have prevented its wide application, such as the scarcity of field data for not only the input and output variables but also parameters that govern intermediate st…
Global sensitivity analysis for urban water quality modelling: comparison of different methods
2012
Sensitivity analysis represents an important step in improving the understanding and use of environmental models. Indeed, by means of global sensitivity analysis (GSA), modellers may identify both important (factor prioritization) and non-influential (factor fixing) model input factors. However, despite the potentialities of GSA methods, only few applications have been published in the field of urban drainage modelling. In order to fill this gap this paper presents a comparison among three GSA methods (SRC, Extended-FAST and Morris screening) on an urban drainage storm-water model. In particular, an exhaustive discussion on their peculiarities, applicability, and reliability is presented. S…
Uncertainty Assessment of a Water-Quality Model for Ephemeral Rivers Using GLUE Analysis
2011
Every model is, by definition, a simplification of the system under investigation. Although it would be desirable to reduce the gap between the simulated and the observed behaviors of the system to zero, this reduction is generally impossible owing to the unavoidable uncertainties inherent in any modeling procedure. Uncertainty analyses can provide useful insights into the best model approach to be used for obtaining results with a high level of significance and reliability. The evaluation of parameter uncertainties is necessary for calibration and for estimating the impact of these uncertainties on model performance. In this context, the uncertainty of a river water-quality model developed…
Assessment of data availability influence on integrated urban drainage modelling uncertainty
2009
In urban water quality management, several models are connected and integrated for analysing the fate of pollutants from the sources in the urban catchment to the final recipient; classical problems connected with the selection and calibration of parameters are amplified by the complexity of the modelling approach increasing their uncertainty. The present paper aims at studying the influence of reductions in available data on the modelling response uncertainty with respect to the different integrated modelling outputs (both considering quantity and quality variables). At this scope, a parsimonious integrated home-made model has been used allowing for analysing the combinative effect of data…