Design of Integrated Management of Stormwater Treatment System - Coursework Example

Student’s Name: Course Code: Lecture’s Name: Date of presentation Design of Integrated Management of Stormwater Treatment System in Urban areas Existing convectional designs Most of the existing and conventional urban stormwater control measure has been motivated by the notion that regards stormwater runoff as a useless resource that adds no value to the amenities of the urban areas. This system rapidly collects surface runoff through highly efficient drainage systems via linear constructed overland surface flow paths and underground pipes, consequently keeping the stormwater out of sight. The rise in stormwater volumes and the associated urban growth with drastic increase in sediments, litter and heavy metals and nutrients has led to considerable natural environment degradation As part of paradigm shift in urban stormwater management, there treatment of water will not be treated in isolation, but rather in a broader planning and design of the concerned urban area. This will involve putting into consideration, the management of surface runoff in all the major stages of design and planning of the urban area to ascertain the the architecture, landscaping, site planning and the engineered infrastructure is offered in a manner that will eventually support the improvement of both management and quality of stormwater as a useful resource. The design seek to utilize elements of urban infrastructure that will enable it to perform in wholesomely perform as a socially, ecologically sustainable urban stormwater management system. The main idea behind the proposed design is the shift towards the management of the storm “at source” through the development and construction of inventive onsite, zonal scale streetscape incorporating the surface run-off management functionality. Goals Although this will be a totally new design aimed at settling particular and specific objectives, there are a set of minimum goals and objectives which are set inn all municipal stormwater management plans. These minimum goals and objectives set for the proposed stormwater treatment design are: Minimize, to the optimum practical extent, any runoff from new development Reduce stormwater damage to both life and property Minimize soil erosion from ant construction and development project Maintain the integrity of the existing drainage systems Minimize contaminants in stormwater runoff from either both and existing development thus compromising the physical, biological and chemical integrity of the water To achieve these goals and objectives, this plan with highlight all of the key specifics for a stormwater treatment design and performance standards for future development. Additionally, the plan will also propose stormwater management measures and controls to address the effects of existing development. Corrective and preventive strategy measures will also be taken in account to ensure a long-term performance and effectiveness of the developed stormwater treatment facilities. The design will also address the safety standards for stormwater management infrastructure to be incorporated in order to promote public safety. The information contained in the design The possible Impacts of Implementation of the Design In this section, the design plan will; a) Estimate the contaminant loads for the proposed development b) Assess the impacts and risks of implementation of the design c) Point-out and analyze the opportunities and constraints based on the above findings d) Identify the key contaminants expected during the construction and operation duration of the project e) Estimate the discharge limits based on the Water Quality Objectives set Pictorial Representation Maps, Drawings and Plans will be used wherever necessary and possible, with the main requirements including: a) Descriptions and diagrams of the nature and type of the stormwater treatment provided b) Conceptual drawings and plans of the location, type and size of the proposed stormwater treatment design proposed c) Existing and proposed stormwater flow paths, main catchment and sub- catchment areas d) Locations of the existing stormwater management and treatment region in relation with other development plans Operational Phase As part of these issues, the design will seek to fully or partially address the following i. Simulated estimates of the hydraulic concentration of pollutants in both pre and post development phase of the stormwater using the local precipitation data ii. Provision of means of countering of hydraulic effects and their addition to the water quality management measures iii. Adoption of treatment devices aimed at realizing the average annual pollutant concentrations for the identified contaminants Stormwater Discussions Within the design some knowledge on issues related to stormwater will be incorporated. This ill involve a brief outline on the hydrological cycle and the impact of the development proposal will affect the plan. Storm water from urban towns has been proved to contain a variety of contaminants emanating from both natural and human related activities, with the principle pollutants being: Sediments/ suspended solid materials Nutrients from farms in form of phosphorus, nitrogen Heavy metals Micro-organisms Hydrocarbons (grease and oil) Litter In designing a stormwater treatment system, the following pre-requisites steps will be addressed. These are: Establishing and ranking the site-specific aims and objectives for design a stormwater treatment measure, including the water quality measure expected habitat creation and retention, education, operation and maintenance. i. Defining the current and existing site conditions, in both catchment area and receiving waters ii. Designing and calculating design parameters in terms of the required quality and quality of water handled iii. Pointing out the possible site constraints that would interfere with the optimum design parameters iv. Evaluation of the trade-offs between the desired objective results and the inherent site conditions v. Reviewing the objectives to suit the new conditions and ultimately revising the design vi. Developing the final waste water treatment design vii. Final preparation of the operations, inspection, monitoring and maintenance plans In this design proposal, the following site conditions are expected to interfere with both effectiveness and practically of the proposed design. These include: i. Topography i.e. the terrain of the site ii. Space limitations iii. Soil conditions iv. Interference with the existing services such as water supply lines, telephone lines v. Community The proposed design will finally address the following specific details Description of the key water quality goals and objectives to be sorted out by the proposed design system i. Design capacity, i.e. the stormwater quantity to be handled by the system per unit time ii. Treatment and management measures proposed by the design for implementation iii. Proposed means for assessing, monitoring and reporting plans iv. Proposed maintenance routines including projected responsibility and frequency for all Selection of the Storm Water Treatment Measure (Authority, 2007), proposes a range of chemical, physical and biological processes that leads to the trapping of the variety of pollutants that occur within the stormwater, The nature of the adopted process depend on a range of including the quality of the inflow water, the biological and physical characteristic of the storm water. These processes are described in the table 1 below. Table 1: Potential Chemical, Biological and Chemical in a Treatment (Environment Protection Authority, 1997) Generally, just like other existing stormwater management systems, different process will be adopted to get rid of different pollutants, for instance particulate pollutants will be removed by stormwater treatment measures such as physical filtration and settling in the primary category of contaminant removal techniques. Dissolved contaminants will be removed from the stormwater affluent through either biological uptake or chemical absorption. In summary, as shown in the hierarchy of the levels of stormwater treatment, physical trapping (screening) and rapid solids sedimentation, leading to removal of course sediments the suspended inflow litter. In the secondary level of stormwater treatment measures, the main processes are filtration and gradual sedimentation. This leads to the removal of metal, nutrients and other suspended material. In the tertiary level, enhanced processes of absorption, filtration, biological uptake and absorption occur. The proposed design will seek to amalgamate a number of different stormwater treatment measures that will eventually minimize the contaminants in the most efficient treatment of the runoff. Figure 1: Levels of Stormwater Treatment (Environment Protection Authority, 1997) The design will also utilize the Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) principles through offering of robust solutions that engage the communities through delivering of improved ecological outcomes for both today future generations. References Works Cited Environment Protection Authority. (1997, November). Managing Urban Stormwater Treatment Techniques. Retrieved August 10, 2013, from Environment Protection Authority: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/stormwater/usp/treattech.pdf NSW Environment Protection Authority. (2007). Wong. (n.d.). An Overview of Water Sensitive Urban Design Practices in Australia. Retrieved August 16, 2013, from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.116.1518&rep=rep1&type=pdf Read More