Storm water treatment

Abstract

Urbanisation leads to changes in storm water quantity and quality due to the increase in impervious surface areas. While the quantity changes include increase in runoff volume and peak flow and decrease in the time to the peak, the quality changes are primarily due to the fact that a diversity of anthropogenic activities contributes a range of pollutants to the urban environment. These pollutants are washed off by storm water runoff and transported to receiving waters. In this context, structural storm water treatment measures are commonly introduced to mitigate storm water quality degradation. This chapter presents reviews of typical structural storm water treatment systems used in urban areas, providing an overview of their design and the inherent treatment processes. The systems discussed include gross pollutant traps, vegetated swales/bioretention swales, detention/retention basins, infiltration systems, bioretention basins and constructed wetlands.