Drainage design

  • illustration of a soakaway sustainable drainage feature

    What are soakaways and how should they be designed?

    Evolving weather patterns and increasing rainfall lead to water and drainage challenges for homes, businesses, and infrastructure. Developers must incorporate drainage systems in their planning that can solve current water challenges and meet tomorrow’s unknown water management needs. Soakaways can create safer, more resilient communities while protecting the environment. What are soakaways? Soakaways reduce the…

    Drainage design
  • illustration of sustainable drainage project. The image shows a bioswale, which is a landscaped feature designed to manage stormwater runoff and promote groundwater recharge. The bioswale includes a variety of plants and grasses that help filter pollutants from the water. The area is green and lush, with various types of vegetation interspersed throughout. The ground has a gentle slope directing water flow toward the plants, which aids in natural water purification and absorption. The setting appears to be part of an urban or suburban environment, with some paved surfaces visible nearby.

    Smart City SuDS: How I built a practical toolbox for evaluating bioswales

    We are pleased to spotlight guest author Mariya Bodylevskaya, who discovered InfoDrainage in the course of her studies around sustainable drainage at HFT Stuttgart. She shares her experience building a framework for better understanding and evaluating the performance of bioswales in urban environments. For several years, I have studied the topic of Sustainable Drainage Systems…

    Drainage design

  • NZ firm Envelope: Building new communities that connect to the natural and cultural landscape

    Envelope is a proudly Pasifika-owned New Zealand-based civil and structural engineering consultancy firm that is overflowing with home-grown personality. Assembled a decade ago, they are growing fast and have already opened their first international outpost in Glasgow. The firm is well-known for its vibrant people-first culture that leans heavily into Maori and Pasifika roots. They…

    Drainage design

  • What is a bioretention system and how does it help control stormwater runoff?

    Bioretention is a stormwater management practice that harnesses natural processes to treat and manage stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces such as rooftops, driveways, and parking lots. If you live in a city, you may have seen many of these types of systems. By utilizing a combination of vegetation, soil, and beneficial microorganisms, bioretention systems capture,…

    Sustainability

  • XPSWMM vs. InfoWorks ICM vs. InfoDrainage: Which solution do you need?

    First released for Windows in 1997, XPSWMM aided stormwater and flood professionals in taking on the water challenges of its time. It was an incredibly powerful tool that the water industry adopted to solve the challenges it faced. But time and software development always marches on. Over time, most users adopted more powerful solutions like…

    Storm, sewer, flood

  • Do you need a Rainwater Management Plan? This Irish manual provides excellent guidance.

    Anthony McCloy is the managing director of McCloy Consulting and regularly speaks at conferences and seminars, provides university lectures, delivers national SuDS training workshops and has recently contributed to Ireland’s Rainwater Management Plans: Guidance for Local Authorities. Does your municipality need an RMP – a Rainwater Management Plan? In the UK, there are lots of…

    Drainage design

  • How does cellular storage work for stormwater control?

    Certain stormwater controls are designed in ways that effectively divert water away from a site – but not cellular storage systems. Sometimes also called geocellular systems, geocellular attenuation tanks, or soakaway tanks, these Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS – aka LIDs/BMPs/WSUDs) capture stormwater in large underground containers that act as a reservoir for stormwater, temporarily storing…

    Drainage design

  • The benefits of porous pavement in drainage design

    Sometimes called permeable pavement, porous pavement is an innovative and environmentally friendly approach to managing stormwater runoff in urban areas. As cities have grown, the sheer number of impermeable surfaces like roads, parking lots, and sidewalks has only increased, leaving traditional drainage systems struggling to cope with the volume of runoff. It leads to increased…

    Drainage design

  • What is a swale – and how do they manage stormwater?

    Swales are essential components in modern drainage design and play a significant role in managing stormwater runoff, rainwater runoff, and promoting sustainable drainage practices. These shallow, vegetated channels are designed to slow down, capture, and filter stormwater by controlling the flow of water through the swale, reducing the risk of flooding and improving water quality.…

    Drainage design

  • What is an infiltration trench and how does it work?

    As the world’s drainage challenges grow, designers are constantly looking for new ways to handle stormwater. Commonly known as stormwater controls (SWCs), a subset of sustainable drainage systems, known as SuDS (LIDs/BMPs/WSUDs), have grown popular globally. SuDS work with nature, rather than against, and can be seen as more sustainable means of handling stormwater inflow…

    Storm, sewer, flood