Smart City Water Inc., a drainage asset management software and service company for the municipal industry, has developed and launched a new approach to identify drainage system vulnerabilities that can cause significant damage to homes and businesses.
According to the company, its latest finding implements a new method to understand how the overland flow and sewer systems interact. It also predicts how the sewers become overloaded due to excess surface water entering the underground pipes in ways not previously accounted for. This approach adds tools to the Visual OTTHYMO (VO) hydraulic and hydrologic modelling platform.
“The company has used the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Stormwater Management Modelling (SWMM) platform and connected it to comprehensive Geographic Information System (GIS) and LIDAR data preparation tools to set up models of city drainage systems in a ‘dual drainage’ way not previously considered,” said Edward Graham, president of Smart City Water. “The approach can now predict when, how, and the amount of rainwater that enters the sanitary and storm sewers and cause pipe overloading situations leading to the flooding of basements, at the surface, and sewage spills to the environment.”
Smart City Water noted that basement flooding due to sewer backups has caused billions of dollars in damages sewage spills are becoming more prevalent. According to the company, its solution can be used by water resource professionals to better understand the vulnerabilities to flood in private and public properties.
With the increasing urban growth across major cities and regulatory requirements for sustainable drainage infrastructure, VO-SWMM is positioned to assist cities, consulting engineers, and scientists in analyzing the impact of severe storms and increasing efficiencies to allow safe and resilient development in growing cities and towns. “The VO-SWMM solution provides customers with a new perspective on the sanitary system and stormwater modelling,” said Dr. Lisha Guo, product owner at Smart City Water. “This is possible by using easy-to-use tools to design, evaluate and optimize urban planning and drainage system maintenance.”
Smart City Water is a software services company helping water resource professionals in government agencies and private engineering firms manage drainage systems. More information about Smart City Water is available here.
