Smart City Water, a drainage asset management software and service company for the municipal industry, has developed and launched a new approach to identify drainage system vulnerabilities that can cause significant damage to homes and businesses. Their latest finding implements a new method to understand how the overland flow and sewer systems interact and predicts how the sewers become overloaded due to excess surface water entering the underground pipes in ways not previously accounted for. This new approach adds powerful tools to the Visual OTTHYMO (VO) hydraulic and hydrologic modelling platform.
"The company has used the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Stormwater Management Modelling (SWMM) platform and connected it to comprehensive Geographic Information System (GIS) and LIDAR data preparation tools to set up models of city drainage systems in a 'dual drainage' way not previously considered. The approach can now predict when, how, and the amount of rainwater that enters the sanitary and storm sewers and cause pipe overloading situations leading to the flooding of basements, at the surface, and sewage spills to the environment" says Edward Graham, M.A.Sc.Eng., P.Eng., President of Smart City Water. Basement flooding due to sewer backup has caused billions of dollars in damages, and sewage spills to the environment are becoming more prevalent. This approach is state-of-art. And now, water resource professionals can better understand the vulnerabilities to flood in private and public properties.
This new approach adds powerful tools to the Visual OTTHYMO (VO) hydraulic and hydrologic modelling platform
With the increasing urban growth across major cities and regulatory requirements for sustainable drainage infrastructure, VO-SWMM is well-positioned to assist cities, consulting engineers, and scientists in analyzing the impact of severe storms and increasing efficiencies to allow safe and resilient development in growing cities and towns. "The VO-SWMM solution provides customers with a new perspective on the sanitary system and stormwater modelling. This is possible by using easy-to-use tools to design, evaluate and optimize urban planning and drainage system maintenance," says Dr. Lisha Guo, Product Owner (VO & Flood Forecasting Software).