SUDS Treatment Train Modeling Using SWMM

Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) promote sustainable cities and communities by reducing problems related to urban stormwater management. A SuDS treatment train (SuTT) sequentially combines several SuDS typologies reducing stormwater quantity while improving runoff water quality. In this study, the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) is used to model a SuTT located in Bogotá (Colombia). The model considers the hydrological, hydraulic and water quality performance of the experimental setup. The SuTT consists of a vegetated swale and an extended dry detention basin. Geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing (RS) products, and experimental data from the SuTT are used to configure the SWMM model. Simulation results indicate that the input parameters derived from the GIS and RS products processing produced a good set of input parameters for the hydrologic model. SWMM is able to represent the SuTT inflow hydrograph nicely. However, the SuTT outflow hydrographs still need further fine-tuning or calibration in the hydraulics parameters. SWMM can reproduce the attenuation effect of the SuTT when hydraulic elements (i.e. links and nodes) are used to represent the SUDS typologies. The configured SWMM model, without any calibration process, is capable of representing the hydrologic model and to some extent the hydraulic model of the experimental SuTT. On the other hand, the water quality model needs further assessment on the washoff and buildup equations coefficients to adjust coefficient values that may represent the conditions of the land uses at the study area.