Split-flow Stormwater Management Strategy Design Feasibility and Cost Comparison

This dissertation develops a new distributed split-flow stormwater management strategy and compares its site design feasibility and construction cost to existing stormwater management methods. The purpose of the split-flow strategy is to manage stormwater by preserving predevelopment flows in terms of rate, quality, frequency, duration and volume. This strategy emulates the predevelopment hydrology: it retains and infiltrates additional runoff volume created by development by using bioretention and paired weirs as proportional flow splitters connected to small infiltration facilities distributed throughout a site. Results show that 1) the distributed split-flow stormwater management strategy can provide a higher level of environmental protection at comparable construction cost to existing detention-based methods, 2) split-flow systems are less expensive to construct than current truncated hydrograph-based bioretention and infiltration systems and 3) non-point source water pollution-reduction objectives, currently achieved with either detention with first flush or comparable bioretention and infiltration systems, could be achieved in a more cost-effective manner using distributed split-flow stormwater management strategy.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Environmental Design and Planning

Department dc:contributor.department

Environmental Design and Planning

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• Echols, Stuart Patton

Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair

• Miller, Patrick A.
• Johnson, Benjamin C.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Bork, Dean R.
• Ferguson, Bruce K.
• Cox, William E.

• Split-Flow
• Stormwater Management
• Ecological Restoration

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-11292002-102632

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/29776