Harnessing the power of InfoDrainage in Canada: regional and customizable settings

As urban areas continue to expand and our drainage infrastructure continues to be pushed to the limits, managing stormwater and urban drainage with old methods has become untenable. This isn’t just a regional problem, but a global one.

Our teams often get asked, “Does InfoDrainage work in my country/region?” Generally speaking, the answer is going to be a resounding yes. InfoDrainage incorporates a number of globally utilized rainfall and runoff methods, offers flexible reporting so local regions can output customized drainage reports, and fully supports Low Impact Developments (LIDs) and Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS). In this blog, we’re going to explore how InfoDrainage can be leveraged for the Canadian market.

Does InfoDrainage work in Canada?

Yes! InfoDrainage supports a number of regions around the globe, Canada being one of them. Upon opening InfoDrainage, if you’re hoping to leverage the tool in Canada, you can quickly set your applicable units in the preferences tab, and select your rainfall methods under the rainfall/pollutants toolbar. We’ll walk through this process in further detail near the end of this blog.

While InfoDrainage not only supports the drainage calculations and units you need to design drainage systems in Canada, it also fully supports LIDs and SuDs, allowing you to design more sustainable drainage systems for Canadian infrastructure. While we know each province and territory can have different regulations for LIDs, the support InfoDrainage offers here ensure that you can always design the drainage structures and stormwater controls you need.

Low Impact Developments (LIDs) in Canada

LIDs encompass a sustainable stormwater management approach that aims to mimic natural hydrological processes to manage stormwater close to its source. InfoDrainage offers comprehensive LID modeling capabilities, allowing for the design and simulation of various LID practices such as green roofs, rain gardens, and permeable pavements. This makes it an invaluable tool in advancing sustainable urban development in Canada.

The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority has a fantastic post detailing the usage of LIDs in Canada, along with their benefits.

Which rainfall and runoff methods does InfoDrainage support?

InfoDrainage supports the following rainfall methods, including Chinese Rainfall for the Canadian region

For more details on how to customize these methods and a more extensive discussion on rainfall and runoff calculations in InfoDrainage, you can explore my blog on the topic.

Here’s something else to consider: Will the rainfall methods we use today for stormwater modeling need to be updated because of climate change? That’s a great question that we tackle in another post.

Customizing InfoDrainage for Canada (and other regions)

Autodesk’s support and training teams have developed a series of tutorials that walk you through how to customize InfoDrainage for specific regionality. This means that with a little configuration, you can quickly customize InfoDrainage to run applicable Canadian (or other regional) drainage calculations. It should be noted that when opening InfoDrainage, it will try to automatically select your applicable region based on your system’s location. To learn more about regionalization options in InfoDrainage, you can explore our regionalization page.

For selecting units, under the preferences section in InfoDrainage, you can choose from a number of pre-selected regions. Or, if a specific region isn’t defined, simply select “User-Defined” to further ensure the tool is outputting results in your required units.

For selecting rainfall calculations, there’s a convenient toolbar that lists all of the various rainfall methods that InfoDrainage supports. Here, you’ll be able to select Chinese Rainfall, also known as Chicago Rainfall, which is commonly used for Canada. If you need other rainfall options, those will also be available here.

Need more flexibility? InfoDrainage has the capacity to accommodate standards for units and rainfall studies from around the world. You can configure the project units and rainfall theory options for your local requirements.

Supporting Canada’s drainage design

As cities across Canada continue to expand, InfoDrainage usage expands. By providing robust, accurate, and efficient modeling capabilities, InfoDrainage empowers urban planners and engineers to design sustainable, effective drainage systems for the urban landscapes of tomorrow.

To explore regionalization of InfoDrainage further, our support site details the process and workflow extensively. Additionally, once you’ve got your hands on InfoDrainage, you can follow the tutorial that walks you through customizing the units and regionalization workflows in-product.