Behaviour and effectiveness of in-ground sustainable urban drainage systems in Scotland
type: CreativeWork
description: Infiltration trenches and filter drains are the most common types o f sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) in Scotland. Despite their extensive use there has been only limited examination of their performance, with the general expectation that failure through lack of maintenance and poor detailing design would necessitate reconstruction within a limited time period. This research worked towards enhanced detailing and improved operation and maintenance of in-ground SUDS. It focused on information gained from on-site monitoring of three filter drain and three infiltration trench systems and combined the outcomes with information gathered from some 40 assessments of in-situ systems in Eastern Scotland. Performance results were produced using a newly developed scoring system, named the Schliiter Score, and results showed good performance at only 19% of systems; 19% were rated as poor and a high failure rate of 23% was discovered. Similar results were produce from a conventional environmental risk assessment identifying more than 30% of systems which require immediate mitigation measures to reduce their environmental risk. These findings give an indication of the varied performance of systems in Scotland and also show the need for knowledge enhancement in the field of in-ground SUDS. A main outcome from this research is a list of recommendations which are applicable to design engineers, developers, and authorities and contribute to achieving optimum long-term performance in terms of outflow quality and flow attenuation. A total number of 43 sites were investigated, the majority being systems located in small-to-medium size housing developments. The average age o f the sites was 4 years, the oldest and youngest being 10 and 1 years, respectively. Almost 75% o f all systems discharge to natural watercourses, disconnecting a significant amount of impermeable area from combined sewer systems. Catchment areas varied from 392m2 to 200,000m2, typically consisting of road a…
abstract: Infiltration trenches and filter drains are the most common types o f sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) in Scotland. Despite their extensive use there has been only limited examination of their performance, with the general expectation that failure through lack of maintenance and poor detailing design would necessitate reconstruction within a limited time period. This research worked towards enhanced detailing and improved operation and maintenance of in-ground SUDS. It focused on information gained from on-site monitoring of three filter drain and three infiltration trench systems and combined the outcomes with information gathered from some 40 assessments of in-situ systems in Eastern Scotland. Performance results were produced using a newly developed scoring system, named the Schliiter Score, and results showed good performance at only 19% of systems; 19% were rated as poor and a high failure rate of 23% was discovered. Similar results were produce from a conventional environmental risk assessment identifying more than 30% of systems which require immediate mitigation measures to reduce their environmental risk. These findings give an indication of the varied performance of systems in Scotland and also show the need for knowledge enhancement in the field of in-ground SUDS. A main outcome from this research is a list of recommendations which are applicable to design engineers, developers, and authorities and contribute to achieving optimum long-term performance in terms of outflow quality and flow attenuation. A total number of 43 sites were investigated, the majority being systems located in small-to-medium size housing developments. The average age o f the sites was 4 years, the oldest and youngest being 10 and 1 years, respectively. Almost 75% o f all systems discharge to natural watercourses, disconnecting a significant amount of impermeable area from combined sewer systems. Catchment areas varied from 392m2 to 200,000m2, typically consisting of road a…
author: Schlüter, Wolfram
language: eng
date published: 2005-7
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:50:10Z
provider: Abertay University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Abertay Dundee