Related EU Projects

The objective of this research was to assess another approach for flood control measures, namely Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS), with application to the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe Basin, located in the central part of Ho Chi Minh City. An Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach was used and the addressed criteria were inundation reduction capacity, pollutant removal capacity, costs, and public preferences. The results of simulations run on the Personal Computer Storm Water Management Model (PCSWMM), and interviews with 140 households, were used to assess the efficacy and acceptability of four of the most popular SUDS: rainwater harvesting, green roofs, urban green spaces and pervious pavements. The results were then fed into a Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA) Framework developed by an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach. In general, SUDS, such as pervious pavements and urban green spaces, were often chosen over individual options (options that can be implemented on a household basis), such as rainwater harvesting and green roofs. This suggested that for the achievement of technical and social benefits, the application of SUDS should start from the installation of infrastructure that targets larger areas, before moving on to smaller systems infrastructure that can be applied on a household basis.

Loc, H., Shimizu, Y., Nguyen, H., Nguyen, T. and Kusakabe, T. (2015). Feasibility Assessment of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) in Ho Chi Minh City using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach. In: World Engineering Conference and Convention. [online] Kyoto. Available at:

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[Accessed 14 Feb. 2018].

The study has taken the implementation of traditional drainage techniques (hard drainage systems into sewage systems or separate surface drainage systems) as a baseline, and compared the costs and benefits of replacing traditional systems with SUDS . An initial assessment of SUDS cost and benefits showed that permeable paving costs were less on a lifecycle basis than those of traditional surfaces and have reduced maintenance costs. Water butts provide economic benefits via savings in water costs. On the other hand, it was found that other types of SUDS such as swales and filter drains tend to show a cost-benefit ratio of less than 1, therefore implying that they cost more and provide fewer benefits. Where relevant, these systems were applied at the end-of-life of the current traditional systems or hard surfaces. The available data on surface areas for undertaking SUDS retrofitting came from the Generalised Land Use database from the Communities and Local Government of the United Kingdom .

Environment Agency (2007). Cost-benefit of SUDS retrofit in urban areas. [online] Environment Agency. Available at:

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[Accessed 14 Feb. 2018].

The aim of this study was to examine the barriers and opportunities in the retrofitting of sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS) to appraise their effectiveness in the mitigation of flood risk. The study has investigated the feasibility of the implementation of SUDS. Specifically, it has examined a range of multiple benefits from retrofitting SuDS such as: the enhancement of air quality; and the identification of a number of potential barriers, including the lack of trust in such systems. However, the study suggests that further research is required to identify the monetary and non-monetary benefits of SuDS as part of an integrated approach of flood risk management.

Oladunjoye, O., Proverbs, D. and Collins, B. (2017). The Barriers and Opportunities to the Retrofit of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) Towards Improving Flood Risk Mitigation in Urban Areas in the UK. In: International Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society (SEEDS). [online] Leeds. Available at:

Link

[Accessed 14 Feb. 2018].

The project showed how sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) can contribute to the overall catchment dynamics of cities such as Glasgow, which ultimately relieved stress on the current predominantly combined sewer system. The project aim was to come up with SUDS demonstration areas (case studies) that were representative of different sustainable drainage techniques and different types of areas available for development and regeneration.

The project has achieved the following objectives:

1. Identified variables that determined the suitability of a given site for the implementation of SUDS;
2. Identified suitable SUDS sites within Glasgow;
3. Classified qualitatively and quantitatively sites suitable for different SUDS technologies;
4. Developed a general outline for a SUDS decision support key and a SUDS decision support matrix;
5. Identified representative SUDS technologies for representative sites that were used for demonstration purposes;
6. Provided a detailed design and management guidelines, and a brief cost–benefit analysis for representative sites and representative SUDS techniques to be used for information and education purposes;
7. Assessed the soil contamination and the associated impact on environmental health.

The preliminary designs of SUDS helped to understand the challenges of holistic catchment management, diffuse pollution, and the linking scales in catchment management. It was forecasted that the implementation of SUDS would help to relieve the local sewer system. Subsequently it would also allow for more regeneration activities to take place.

Scholz, M., Corrigan, N. and Yazdi, S. (2006). The Glasgow sustainable urban drainage system management project: Case studies (Belvidere hospital and Celtic FC stadium areas).

[online] Available at: http://usir.salford.ac.uk/20752/1/SCHOLZ.pdf [Accessed 14 Feb. 2018].

NWRM Final Report

This paper discusses numerical modelling approaches for three different types of measures commonly used in the Netherlands: green roofs, swale filter drainage systems (swales), and infiltration-transport drainage systems (IT-drains). A combination of physically based and empirical formulae as well as urban hydrologic and hydraulic modelling software was used to assess the effectiveness of the measures.

The analysis has shown that these systems are promising, especially at the scale of the individual measures (a single IT-drain pipe, swale or green roof). Due to non-linearity issues, the up-scaling of such measures to city and neighbourhood levels remained a challenge, thus further research is required. The modelling concepts for green roofs and swales were applied in a synthetic case study to illustrate the possible effects of SUDS on the reduction of inundation volumes in urban areas. The case study consisted of an imaginary urban area with properties resembling average urban areas in the Netherlands.

These storm water infiltration systems have been developed to reduce flooding risk or to increase groundwater recharge. As a consequence, software modelling for urban drainage systems enabled water authorities and municipalities to assess the impact of sustainable urban drainage measures ‘SUDS’ on local flood hazards.  

Vergroesen, T., Verschelling, E. and Becker, B. (2014). MODELLING OF SUSTAINABLE URBAN DRAINAGE MEASURES. Revista de Ingeniería Innova, [online] 8, pp.pp. 1 - 16. Available at:

Link

[Accessed 12 Feb. 2018].

This paper developed a methodology for the selection, sitting and pre-dimensioning of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS). A GIS-based methodology, that requires vector and raster data (i.e. orthophoto, Digital Elevation Model, water table depth, infiltration rate) to delineate watersheds and identify suitable sites for implementing SUDS, was further refined by involving local stakeholder knowledge. Daily rainfall precipitation historical data was used for pre-dimensioning. A lexicographic multi-objective optimisation model was implemented to maximise and/or minimise a set of objective functions: (i) maximisation of the use of runoff water for irrigation purposes, (ii) maximisation of the use of SUDS storage capacity, (iii) minimisation of construction and maintenance costs and, (iv) minimisation of runoff volumes. The methodology was applied to the Universidad de los Andes campus and the obtained results showed that potable water consumption for irrigation purposes can be reduced up to 77% by implementing a total area of 0.15 ha of SUDS. The optimal solution for a subset of feasible sites resulted in 6 SUDS sites using storm water tree pits and permeable pavements.

Andrés Felipe Muñoz, A., Torres, M., Fontecha Garcia, J., Rodríguez Sánchez, J. and Zhu, Z. (2017). A methodology for optimal sitting of sustainable urban drainage system. Case study: Universidad de los Andes. In: International Conference on Urban Drainage. [online] Prague, Czech Republic. Available at:

Link

[Accessed 12 Feb. 2018].