Abstract
The smart rain barrel (SRB) consists of a conventional RB with storage volumes between 200 and 500 L, which is extended by a remotely (and centrally) controllable discharge valve. The SRB is capable of releasing stormwater prior to precipitation events by using high-resolution weather forecasts to increase detention capacity. However, as shown in a previous work, a large-scale implementation combined with a simultaneous opening of discharge valves clearly reduced the effectiveness. The aim of this work was to systematically investigate different control strategies for wet weather by evaluating their impact on sewer performance. For the case study, an alpine municipality was hypothetically retrofitted with SRBs (total additional storage volume of 181 m3). The results showed that combined sewer overflow (CSO) volume and subsequently pollution mass can be reduced by between 7 and 67% depending on rain characteristics (e.g., rain pattern, amount of precipitation) and an applied control strategy. Effectiveness of the SRBs increases with lower CSO volume, whereas more advanced control strategies based on sewer conditions can clearly improve the system's performance compared to simpler control strategies. For higher CSO volume, the SRBs can postpone the start of an CSO event, which is important for a first-flush phenomenon.
Highlights
The smart rain barrel (SRB) are developed as an Internet of Things (IoT)-solution and can be emptied prior to rain events to increase detention volume
A sewer system of an alpine municipality was utilised and 384 properties in land classified as residential area, mixed-use area, and agricultural area were hypothetically retrofitted with SRBs, providing an additional storage volume of 181 m3
The simulations were performed with the open-source software ‘Smartin’, which can model micro storages developed as an IoTbased solution in a coupled model of urban drainage and water supply system
Summary
Rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems aim to substitute drinking water in non-potable water applications (e.g., irrigation, toilet flushing) by retaining rainwater runoff in. An exemplary application is a decentralised rainwater storage unit, which is capable to control outflow in real time In this context, Xu et al ( ) investigated the benefits of weather forecasts for real-time controlled storage tanks at catchment scale, showing that discharges – prior to precipitation events – reduced uncontrolled overflows. Roman et al ( ) considered irrigation requirements in the control strategy, improving both, detention capacity and drinking water savings
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