Storm sewers carry surface runoff from rain and snowmelt to bodies of water. They are different from sanitary sewers and should not be confused. Storm sewers have inlets to collect water, pipes to transport it, and outlets to discharge it into waterways. Improperly functioning storm drains can lead to flooding and pollution from contaminants picked up by urban runoff. Maintaining clear drains is important for effective drainage and reducing flooding risks.

2. Drainage or Storm Sewage
Presented By
Name : Avik Ghorai
Roll No : 18201321019
Paper Name : Environmental engineering-II
Paper Code : CE(PC)505
Semester : 5th
Department : Civil engineering
CA1 Examination For Odd Semester-2022
Institute of Science &
Technology

3. Drainage or Storm Sewage
Storm sewers are drains that carry surface water runoff from rain, melting snow, and overflow
from lawn water. These sewers convey this runoff to water bodies such as catch basins, rivers and
lakes. A storm sewer's components include the above-ground drain that is usually found at
street-level, just below the sidewalk line, and the reservoir piping/tunneling beneath it that
carries the water elsewhere.
Storm sewers are different from sanitary sewers, and the two should never be confused.
Discharging sanitary waste into a storm sewer can lead to contamination of fresh water bodies in
the neighborhood, which can then become a source of disease and environmental pollution.

4. Function
1.Inlet
There are two main types of stormwater drain inlets: side inlets and grated inlets. Side inlets are
located adjacent to the curb and rely on the ability of the opening under the back stone or lintel to
capture flow. They are usually depressed at the invert of the channel to improve capture capacity.
Many inlets have gratings or grids to prevent people, vehicles, large objects or debris from falling
into the storm drain. Grate bars are spaced so that the flow of water is not impeded,
but sediment and many small objects can also fall through. However, if grate bars are too far
apart, the openings may present a risk to pedestrians, bicyclists, and others in the vicinity. Grates
with long narrow slots parallel to traffic flow are of particular concern to cyclists, as the front tire of
a bicycle may become stuck, causing the cyclist to go over the handlebars or lose control and fall.
Storm drains in streets and parking areas must be strong enough to support the weight of
vehicles, and are often made of cast iron or reinforced concrete

5. 2.Piping
Pipes can come in many different cross-sectional
shapes (rectangular, square, bread-loaf-shaped,
oval, inverted pear-shaped, egg shaped, and
most commonly, circular). Drainage systems may
have many different features including waterfalls,
stairways, balconies and pits for catching
rubbish, sometimes called Gross Pollutant Traps
(GPTs). Pipes made of different materials can
also be used, such as brick, concrete, high-
density polyethylene or galvanized steel. Fibre
reinforced plastic is being used more commonly
for drain pipes and fittings.

6. 3.Outlet
Most drains have a single large exit at their point of discharge (often covered by
a grating) into a canal, river, lake, reservoir, sea or ocean. Other than catchbasins,
typically there are no treatment facilities in the piping system. Small storm drains may
discharge into individual dry wells. Storm drains may be interconnected using slotted
pipe, to make a larger dry well system. Storm drains may discharge into man-made
excavations known as recharge basins or retention ponds.

7. Environmental impacts
Storm drains are often unable to manage the
quantity of rain that falls during heavy rains
and/or storms. When storm drains are inundated,
basement and street flooding can occur. Unlike
catastrophic flooding events, this type of urban
flooding occurs in built-up areas where man-
made drainage systems are prevalent. Urban
flooding is the primary cause of sewer backups
and basement flooding, which can affect
properties repeatedly.
Clogged drains also contribute to flooding by the
obstruction of storm drains. Communities or
cities can help reduce this by
cleaning leaves from the storm drains to stop
ponding or flooding into yards. Snow in the winter
can also clog drains when there is an unusual
amount of rain in the winter and snow
is plowed atop storm drains.
1.Water quantity

8. 2.Water quality
The first flush from urban runoff can be extremely dirty. Storm water may
become contaminated while running down the road or other impervious
surface, or from lawn chemical run-off, before entering the drain.
Water running off these impervious surfaces tends to pick
up gasoline, motor oil, heavy metals, trash and other pollutants from
roadways and parking lots, as well as fertilizers and pesticides from lawns.
Roads and parking lots are major sources
of nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium, lead and polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are created as combustion byproducts of
gasoline and other fossil fuels. Roof runoff contributes high levels
of synthetic organic compounds and zinc (from galvanized gutters).
Fertilizer use on residential lawns, parks and golf courses is a significant
source of nitrates and phosphorus.
Separation of undesired runoff can be achieved by installing devices within
the storm sewer system. These devices are relatively new and can only be
installed with new development or during major upgrades. They are referred
to as oil-grit separators (OGS) or oil-sediment separators (OSS). They
consist of a specialized manhole chamber, and use the water flow and/or
gravity to separate oil and grit.

9. 3.Mosquito breeding
Catch basins are commonly designed with a sump area below
the outlet pipe level—a reservoir for water and debris that
helps prevent the pipe from clogging. Unless constructed with
permeable bottoms to let water infiltrate into underlying soil,
this subterranean basin can become a mosquito breeding
area, because it is cool, dark, and retains stagnant water for a
long time. Combined with standard grates, which have holes
large enough for mosquitoes to enter and leave the basin, this
is a major problem in mosquito control.
Basins can be filled with concrete up to the pipe level to
prevent this reservoir from forming. Without proper
maintenance, the functionality of the basin is questionable, as
these catch basins are most commonly not cleaned annually
as is needed to make them perform as designed. The trapping
of debris serves no purpose because once filled they operate
as if no basins were present, but continue to allow a shallow
area of water retention for the breeding of mosquito. Moreover,
even if cleaned and maintained, the water reservoir remains
filled, accommodating the breeding of mosquitoes.

10. History
 Archaeological studies have revealed use of rather
sophisticated stormwater runoff systems in ancient
cultures. For example, in Minoan Crete around 2000 BC,
cities such as Phaistos were designed to have storm drains
and channels to collect precipitation runoff. At
Cretan Knossos, storm drains include stone-lined
structures large enough for a person to crawl through.Other
examples of early civilizations with elements of stormwater
drain systems include early people of Mainland
Orkney such as Gurness and the Brough of
Birsay in Scotland.