Stormwater Management Source Control

This two day course covers the principles of water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) relating to 'source control' of stormwater.

A sound understanding of (urban) engineering hydrology is assumed.

The content features a balance between the three domains of WSUD (stormwater) practice - quantity control, pollution control and stormwater harvesting. Particular attention is directed to the problems posed by the government’s goal of 35 million population by 2050. How can existing (competently-performing) stormwater infrastructure cope with this increase without expensive upgrade ? How can required re-development in catchments with existing under-performing stormwater infrastructure be managed without expensive upgrade ? Must the natural waterways on our city perimeters be sacrificed to hard-lining in the wake of the proposed expansion ? Positive answers to these questions based on WSUD ‘source control’ practices will be provided in the Workshop as well as innovative coverage of stormwater treatment and stormwater harvesting..

Recognised for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) by Engineers Australia (EA) in accordance with EA CPD Guidelines.

Target Audience

For engineers and technical officers engaged in the design or approval of devices or systems employing water-sensitive principles (WSUD) on residential and/or industrial sites or estates. Assumed background for the workshop is familiarity with the basic principles of engineering hydrology including runoff hydrographs, Rational Method, ‘time of concentration’, use of IFD data, ARI, runoff coefficients and EIA, infiltration, stormwater infrastructure, etc.

Course Outline

Introduction – basic concepts of stormwater management; detention and retention; water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) principles; devices and systems; site-dependent options; the WSUD vision.

WSUD implementation: surface infiltration practices, pervious paving; ‘lifespan’ of paving systems; in-ground devices, percolation; hydraulic conductivity and its measurement; ‘continuous simulation’ modelling;

Device ‘emptying time’ and criteria; dos and don’ts of WSUD practice; four ‘source control’ categories; Category 1 (quantity management) – flooding and environmental flows; strategic planning and responsibilities.

Procedures for designing three classes of installations – infiltration/treatment systems; ‘leaky’ (in-ground) devices; ‘dry’ ponds; theory/case study illustrations and support calculations; o’night homework exercises.

Review of overnight homework exercises leading to procedures for designing in-ground ‘source control’ devices matched to the full range of Aust’n soil and climate conditions; aquifer- and waterway-access systems.

Characteristics of stormwater pollution; introduction to ‘source control’ practices for stormwater treatment; sediment and dissolved pollutants; role of filters, trickling filters and parent soil body treatment;

Stormwater treatment – general approach for Australia’s five climate zones: simple cases; complex  cases (requiring underdrain flow); application of general approach to streets with swales (five climate zones).

Stormwater harvesting: illustrations ranging from roof-only runoff through to stormwater collected from resident’l sub-divisions and mixed-development catchments; software for sizing domestic/industrial raintanks

Course Objectives

At completion of the course participants will be able to:

• Explain the differences between detention and retention installations as components of urban stormwater infrastructure;
• Explain how retention or ‘source control’ techniques can be employed in ‘greenfield’ catchments subject to urbanisation to ensure the preservation of natural waterways and their environmental values;
• Explain how retention or ‘source control’ techniques can be employed in highly -developed urban catchments to enable progressive re-development to occur without the need for enlargement or upgrade of mainline stormwater infrastructure;
• Understand the importance of critical storm duration in a highly urban or progressively urbanising catchment;
• Design a range of infiltration (treatment) surfaces, ‘leaky’ in-ground devices or ‘dry’ ponds as components of water-sensitive stormwater management infrastructure;
• Understand the principles of the ‘continuous simulation’ modelling process;
• Understand the treatment train concept and its application in filters, trickling filters and parent soil body treatment of pollutants generated in urban catchments;
• Understand and be able to apply the treatment train concept to design bio-retention installations for swales in Australian  residential streetscapes;
• Understand and be informed on the wide range of opportunities available in the urban landscape for harvesting stormwater;
• ‘Size’ a rainwater tank system for a domestic or industrial application in any Australian major population centre using software introduced in the workshop.

Facilitator Information

Adjunct Professor John Argue BE MS FIEAust CPEng

John Argue has taught and carried out research in urban hydraulics and hydrology since 1976 at the University of South Australia (formerly SA Institute of Technology). This work led to the publication by ARRB in 1986 of  “Storm drainage design in small urban catchments – a handbook for Australian practice”. This book has been widely used by engineers and technical officers in consulting practices and municipal agencies across the nation. This Handbook introduced retention technology to Australian practice.

In 1987, John focussed his interests on the application of retention practice to flood control, pollution control and stormwater harvesting and published the results of this research in “WSUD: basic procedures for ‘source control’ of stormwater – a Handbook for Australian practice” (Argue, 2004). The Student Edition of this book provides the text material for the EEA 2-day workshops “Stormwater Management (source control)”. The workshop has been presented on over 30 occasions across the nation: its content has been continuously updated. John retired from University of South Australia in 1999 and was appointed Adjunct Professor of Water Engineering.

Registration

Please select your preferred location and date from the below table and then click on the REGISTER NOW button.

A 10% saving applies for Engineers Australia Members or for group bookings of 3 or more participants.