Smart stormwater research awarded Stormwater SA Excellence in Research and Innovation Commendation
A collaboration between researchers, Mark Thyer and Holger Maier, local government (City of Mitcham, City of Unley) and industry (Water Tech) has received a commendation from Stormwater SA.
The Stormwater SA Excellence Awards 2020 encourage, recognise, promote and celebrate excellence in the innovation, development, completion and management of stormwater projects and the people involved.
The project by Dr Thyer and Professor Maier showed "Smart Stormwater Systems"™ that use artificial intelligence in their design and operation provide a unique opportunity to substantially reduce flood infrastructure costs and increase water for urban cooling of our heat-stressed cities.
Smart stormwater systems use artificial intelligence and machine learning to adapt the design and operation of storages in the system to the dynamics of large rainfall events. This provides an opportunity to reduce infrastructure costs, because peak flows are significantly reduced. A case study in the City of Unley catchment showed peak overland flows were reduced by 20-40%, with infrastructure costs were reduced by 30-44% compared with traditional approaches.
Smart stormwater systems also provide an opportunity to use storages to harvest water during small rainfall events. This can provide water for urban cooling and improve water quality of our urban waterways. The City of Unley case study showed an additional water re-use volume of 3.4ML/year while common contaminants such as suspended solids, phosphorus and nitrogen were reduced by up to 50%.
The judges from Stormwater SA, said the project represented "an innovative solution for both flood management and alternative water supply".
Congratulations, Mark and Holger!