Spatial and temporal analysis of urban flood risk assessment

Urban flood risk assessment requires quantification of uncertainty that is spatially and temporally variable. This paper presents a new approach to urban flood risk assessment by: (a) integrating objective and subjective uncertainties and (b) providing full insight into spatial and temporal change of flood risk. A 1-D storm sewer model and a 2-D surface flow model are integrated to describe the dynamic interactions between overland flow on the streets and flow through the storm sewer network. The fuzzy set theory approach is used to assess spatial and temporal variability of urban flood damage, and the acceptable level of partial flood damage. The spatial and temporal variability of fuzzy performance indices: (i) combined reliability-vulnerability; (ii) robustness and (iii) resiliency, are generated as the outcome of the urban flood risk analysis. The methodology is illustrated using the residential community of Cedar Hollow (London, Ontario, Canada) as a case study.     

Quantification of groundwater infiltration and surface water inflows in urban sewer networks based on a multiple model approach

The management of sewer systems requires information about discharge and variability of typical wastewater sources in urban catchments. Especially the infiltration of groundwater and the inflow of surface water (I/I) are important for making decisions about the rehabilitation and operation of sewer networks. This paper presents a methodology to identify I/I and estimate its quantity. For each flow fraction in sewer networks, an individual model approach is formulated whose parameters are optimised by the method of least squares. This method was applied to estimate the contributions to the wastewater flow in the sewer system of the City of Dresden (Germany), where data availability is good. Absolute flows of I/I and their temporal variations are estimated. Further information on the characteristics of infiltration is gained by clustering and grouping sewer pipes according to the attributes construction year and groundwater influence and relating these resulting classes to infiltration behaviour. Further, it is shown that condition classes based on CCTV-data can be used to estimate the infiltration potential of sewer pipes.     

Validation of 2D shock capturing flood models around a surcharging manhole

This work offers a detailed validation of finite volume (FV) flood models in the case where horizontal floodplain flow is affected by sewer surcharge flow via a manhole. The FV numerical solution of the 2D shallow water equations is considered based on two approximate Riemann solvers, HLLC and Roe, on both quadrilateral structured and triangular unstructured mesh-types. The models are validated against a high resolution experimental data-set obtained using a physical model of a sewer system linked to a floodplain via a manhole. It was verified that the sensitivity of the models is inversely proportional to the surcharged flow/surface inflow ratio, and therefore requires more calibration from the user especially when concerned with localised modelling of sewer-to-floodplain flow. Our findings provide novel evidence that shock capturing FV-based flood models are applicable to simulate localised sewer-to-floodplain flow interaction.     

Validation of a 1D-2D dual drainage model under unsteady part-full and surcharged sewer conditions

This paper presents a 1D-2D dual drainage model to compute the rainfall-runoff transformation in urban environments. Overland flow in major drainage systems is modelled with the 2D shallow water equations, whereas the flow in a sewer network is computed with the 1D Saint-Venant equations using the two-component pressure approach to model pressure-flow conditions. The surface and sewer network models are linked through manholes, which allow water interchange in both directions. A new series of rainfall–runoff experiments in a real-scale physical model of a street section is used to validate the model under unsteady part-full and pressure flow conditions. The experimental measurements of water depth and discharge at several locations in a drainage network show a very satisfactory performance of the numerical model.     

Quantifying costs and lengths of urban drainage systems with a simple static sewer infrastructure model

A generic model is introduced that is capable of quantitatively representing the combined sewer infrastructure of a settlement. It consists of a catchment area module, which calculates the length and size distribution of the needed sewer pipes on the basis of rain, housing densities and area size. These results are fed into the sewer construction costs module in order to estimate the combined sewer costs of the entire catchment area.

The model could be successfully fitted to existing Swiss sewer systems, indicating that it can emulate their principal characteristics. It could also identify fundamental differences in sewer designs in cities with historic roots. The results confirm that there are economies of scale for combined sewer systems in Switzerland. The modelling approach proved to be an effective tool for understanding the factors underlying the cost structure for water network infrastructures.     

Application and comparison of two different dual drainage models to assess urban flooding

Two types of dual drainage models were set up to assess urban flooding for a study area in Germany: (1) a static model based on a conventional method in Germany; the overflow volumes of the manholes are gained by the sewer solver HYSTEM-EXTRAN. Using these water volumes and geographic information system (GIS) tools, an overland flow network, composed of flow paths and accumulated water in sinks, is produced, (2) a HYSTEM-EXTRAN 2D model; a two-dimensional (2D) overland flow module is coupled bi-directionally with HYSTEM-EXTRAN. The overland flow and the flow in the sewer system are simulated alternately.

Both models were supplied with a synthetic design rainfall and 25 extreme storms. After comparing the models and the results, a practical approach to assess urban flooding is proposed. In this approach the 2D model will compute the depth, extent, and propagation of floods only in the prone areas specified by the static model.     

Modelling sewer discharge via displacement of manhole covers during flood events using 1D/2D SIPSON/P-DWave dual drainage simulations

In urban areas, overloaded sewers may result in surcharge that causes surface flooding. The overflow from sewer systems mainly starts at the inlets until the pressure head in the manhole is high enough to lift up its cover, at which stage the surcharged flow may be discharged via the gap between the bottom of the manhole cover and the ground surface. In this paper, we propose a new approach to simulate such a dynamic between the sewer and the surface flow in coupled surface and sewer flow modelling. Two case studies are employed to demonstrate the differences between the new linking model and the traditional model that simplifies the process. The results show that the new approach is capable of describing the physical phenomena when manhole covers restrict the drainage flow from the surface to the sewer network and reduce the surcharge flow and vice versa.     

Beneficial impact of coatings on biological generation of sulfide in concrete sewer pipes

Hydrogen sulfide is a serious problem for many municipalities across North America and worldwide. Odor, safety, and corrosion are the major problems associated with the presence of hydrogen sulfide in sewerage systems. This paper investigates the effect on sulfide generation of using innovative coatings in concrete sewer pipes. A pilot-scale model, consisting of three concrete pipes (each 75 cm in length and 30 cm in internal diameter), was used to simulate the process of sulfide generation in a sewer system. Two of the pipes were internally coated with either cuprous oxide (C.O) or silver oxide (S.O), while the third one served as a control. Each of the oxides was mixed with a commercial epoxy, used for repairing concrete sewer pipes, prior to spraying on the internal surface of the concrete pipe specimens to form a coating film. Test data showed that the sulfide generation by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in the C.O and S.O coated pipes was reduced by 92% and 100%, respectively, compared with that of the control pipe. The coating films effectively decreased the bacterial count in the nutrient solution. Results also suggested that the slime layer formed in the C.O coated pipe was significantly smaller and thinner compared with that of the control pipe. No slime layer was observed on the internal surface of the S.O coated pipe at the conclusion of the test.     

Multi-objective evolutionary optimization for greywater reuse in municipal sewer systems

Sustainable design and implementation of greywater reuse (GWR) has to achieve an optimum compromise between costs and potable water demand reduction. Studies show that GWR is an efficient tool for reducing potable water demand. This study presents a multi-objective optimization model for estimating the optimal distribution of different types of GWR homes in an existing municipal sewer system. Six types of GWR homes were examined. The model constrains the momentary wastewater (WW) velocity in the sewer pipes (which is responsible for solids movement). The objective functions in the optimization model are the total WW flow at the outlet of the neighborhoods sewer system and the cost of the on-site GWR treatment system. The optimization routing was achieved by an evolutionary multi-objective optimization coupled with hydrodynamic simulations of a representative sewer system of a neighborhood located at the coast of Israel. The two non-dominated best solutions selected were the ones having either the smallest WW flow discharged at the outlet of the neighborhood sewer system or the lowest daily cost. In both solutions most of the GWR types chosen were the types resulting with the smallest water usage. This lead to only a small difference between the two best solutions, regarding the diurnal patterns of the WW flows at the outlet of the neighborhood sewer system. However, in the upstream link a substantial difference was depicted between the diurnal patterns. This difference occurred since to the upstream links only few homes, implementing the same type of GWR, discharge their WW, and in each solution a different type of GWR was implemented in these upstream homes. To the best of our knowledge this is the first multi-objective optimization model aimed at quantitatively trading off the cost of local/onsite GW spatially distributed reuse treatments, and the total amount of WW flow discharged into the municipal sewer system under unsteady flow conditions.     

FCM(模糊C-均值聚类)法在泥石流分类中的应用

影响泥石流沟性质的因素繁多,如主沟长度、流域面积、流域最大高差等,故泥石流的分类是受诸多因素影响的多维非线性问题,对泥石流分类可以对泥石流危险度划分及防治对策等提供较好的建议,本文结合FCM(模糊C均值聚类)法,根据现场调查的泥石流沟各因素值划分泥石流沟的类别,以现场调查及工程经验证明分类结果较好反映泥石流沟的实际情况,证明了该方法的有效性及可行性。     

Development and performance of a parsimonious model to estimate temperature in sewer networks

This paper presents a model (inspired by another model) to calculate water temperature in free-surface flow with two main innovations: the convective heat transfer occurs only at the wetted perimeter of pipes, and the model was integrated to commercial software used for hydraulic calculations in drainage systems. Given these innovations, we could reduce the number of modeling input data to calculate the temperature of water and soil in the radial and tangential directions along the pipes, with the advantages of using industry-standard software. To test the performance of the model, it was firstly calibrated in two sets of experiments (to calibrate the hydraulic and the thermal parameters separately), and benchmarked with a third controlled discharge against the case model. The results indicate that in unsteady-state situations the parsimonious model can be twice as accurate as the underlying model because the parsimonious model considers the hydraulic influence of sewer infrastructure.     

Exfiltration in sanitary sewer systems in the US

Many municipalities throughout the US have sewer systems (separate and combined) that may experience exfiltration of untreated wastewater. A study was conducted by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to focus on estimating the magnitude of leakage of sanitary and industrial wastewater from sewer pipes on a national basis. The method for estimating exfiltration amounts utilized groundwater table information to identify areas of the country where the hydraulic gradients of the wastewater are typically positive, i.e. the wastewater flow surface (within pipelines) is above the groundwater table. An examination of groundwater table elevations on a national basis reveals that the contiguous US comprises groundwater regions (established by the US Geological Survey) that are markedly different. Many parts of the northeastern, southeastern, and midwestern US have groundwater tables that are higher than the wastewater flow surface, resulting in inflow or infiltration. Conversely, the combination of a relatively low groundwater table and shallow sewer systems creates the potential for widespread exfiltration, a situation more commonly found in communities located in the western US.     

北京洪水峪泥石流形成条件探讨

洪水峪泥石流、沟内崩塌、不稳定斜坡等不良地质现象发育。该沟内煤矸石、沟道物源丰富,上游汇水面积大,沟道纵坡降较大,在强降雨沟道径流冲刷作用下,极易发生揭底起动而形成泥石流灾害。在雨季,支沟常有少量泥沙、块石冲出,阻塞进山道路,淤塞河道,引起原有坝体损毁,威胁居民生命财产安全。通过对以往资料的综合整理,结合现场调查,对洪水峪泥石流形成的诸多条件进行了分析,以期对该区泥石流的防治与预测起到参考作用。     

Numerical assessment of the impeding effect of check dams in the Hongchun debris flow gully,Sichuan Province,China

To mitigate potential damage from debris flows, numerous check dams have been constructed in thousands of debris flow gullies all over the world. However, the efficiencies of these check dams are largely unknown because they are normally designed based on empirical methods. This paper presents an assessment of the impeding effect of check dams constructed in the Hongchun debris flow gully in Sichuan Province, China by using an improved finite difference model. Compared with other models, the improved model can consider both the impeding effect of check dams and bed entrainment. We analyzed the impeding effect of these check dams on different initial scales of debris flows. The results show that these check dams perform quite well in constraining bed entrainment downstream of the gully. The average velocity, peak discharge, and final scale of a debris flow in the gully can be substantially reduced by constructed check dams. The impeding effect is sufficient when the initial volume of the debris flow is less than 1.5 times that of the catastrophic debris flow event that occurred in this gully on 14 August 2010. This study improves our understanding of the influence of check dams on the dynamic and bed entrainment processes of debris flows. The model adopted in this study can be a robust tool to quantify the efficiencies of existing check dams and provide reasonable guidance in the design of check dams in debris flow gullies.

     

Numerical and experimental investigation of a gully under surcharge conditions

This paper deals with numerical and experimental investigation of a gully under exceptional situations after the sewer system becomes pressurized. These results are useful for the calibration and validation of the linking elements found in Dual Drainage (DD) models. The experimental results were obtained in the MLE (Multiple-Linking-Element) experimental installation that allows the simulation of full surcharge flow through a gully. The installation consists of an 8 m long and 0.5 m wide channel, fitted with a 0.6 × 0.3 × 0.3 m gully with a 80 mm diameter pipe inlet at the bottom. The numerical results were obtained using a three-dimensional structured mesh simulated in the OpenFOAM^TM Toolbox. The results characterization focuses mainly on the jet area, whereby pressure-flow relations were derived for this specific gully. The good agreement found between numerical and experimental results, allowed the extrapolation to larger flow rates.     

Enteric pathogens in flood-related waters in urban areas of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta: a case study of Ninh Kieu district,Can Tho city

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the contamination of floodwaters in the urban center of Can Tho city, Vietnam. We sampled water from sewers, surface water bodies, and flood, before, during, and after specific flooding events. Total nucleic acid was extracted from the samples and subjected to a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to detect specific enteric pathogens. The difference between pathogen concentrations in floodwater and sewer water was compared by using the Mann Whitney U test. Correlations between the different pathogens were determined using the non-parametric Spearman test. E. coli and Rotavirus-A were the most prevalent pathogens in floodwater. We observed a weak association between E. coli and Rotavirus in flood-related waters (r < 0.5). Floodwater quality showed no difference to sewer water quality in terms of the E. coli and Rotavirus A concentrations (p > 0.05). Our results indicate that floodwater poses a significant urban public health risk due to the presence of enteric pathogens.     

A Survival Analysis Model for Sewer Pipe Structural Deterioration

Abstract: The structural state of sewer systems is often quantified using condition classes. The classes are based on the severity of structural defects observed on individual pipes within the system. Here, a survival analysis model was developed to predict the overall structural state of a sewer network based on camera inspection data from a sample of pipes in the system. The convolution product was used to define the survival functions for cumulative staying times in each condition class. An original calibration procedure for the sewer deterioration model was developed to overcome the censored nature of data (left censored and right censored) available for the calibration of sewer deterioration models. The exponential and Weibull functions were used to represent the distribution of waiting times in each deterioration state. Cross‐validation tests showed that the Weibull function led to greater uncertainty than the exponential function for the simulated proportion of pipes that are in a deteriorated state. Using various sample sizes for model calibration, these cross‐validation tests also showed that the model's results are robust to smaller calibration sample sizes. This confirms the model's potential for predicting the overall state of deterioration of a sewer network when only a small proportion of the pipes have been inspected.     

Experimental estimation of the head loss coefficient at surcharged four-way junction manholes

ABSTRACT

The head loss caused by the surcharged flow from four-way junction manholes is the main cause of increased flood damage in urban areas. The flow pattern significantly varies depending on the inflow conditions of the inlet pipes and constitutes the flow conditions of a four-way junction manhole, three-way junction manholes, and middle manholes. Therefore, the head loss changes with various manhole shapes must be analyzed. In this study, physical model study apparatus was prepared. Various flow rate conditions were selected by changing the flow rate ratios of the inlet pipes at 10% intervals. The head loss coefficients were also estimated. A head loss coefficient range diagram was generated based on the results. A head loss coefficient empirical formula that considers all flow conditions for surcharged four-way junction manholes is proposed. The proposed equation should be applicable to the design and assessment of drainage systems with varying inlet pipe flow rates.     

Quantification of energy losses at a surcharging manhole

Hydraulic models of sewer systems are commonly used to predict the risk of urban flooding. However, suitable calibration datasets in flood conditions are scarce. The quantification of energy losses within manhole structures is a current source of uncertainty within such models. To address this gap, a scaled physical manhole model is used to quantify hydraulic energy losses during surcharging and non-surcharging conditions. Two different novel configurations were tested; (1) With and without the presence of a manhole lid; (2) With and without the presence of a shallow flow on the surface. Results showed that total head losses were found to increase in surcharging conditions. The presence of the lid also marginally increased total head losses. The datasets are used to assess the performance of a numerical urban flood model (SIPSON) and comparisons highlighted that SIPSON tends to overestimate energy losses in surcharging conditions.