Abstract Globally, the frequency of record-breaking rainfall events has greatly risen. As a result, surface water urban flooding is becoming a bigger concern. SUDS are increasingly being used in many metropolitan areas to reduce peak surface runoff and pollutants by utilizing various designed open water structures, such as infiltration basins. Urbanization and climate change have resulted in an increase in catchment runoff, often exceeding the designed capacity of sewer systems. The purpose of this research is to study the performance of nonwoven geotextile in subsurface drainage beds to improve the efficiency of infiltration rate compared to existing drainage system. This research proposes to create a subsurface drainage bed consisting of gravel, sand, and nonwoven geotextile to act as an alternative compared to existing drainage system. This module will be run by conducting an experiment to study the characteristics of subsurface drainage bed, effects of rainfall intensity and the relationship of infiltration rate on various rainfall intensity will be studied. In conclusion, in this study, nonwoven geotextile with a thickness of 5 mm (Condition B) significantly improved infiltration rates, reducing surface runoff by up to 30 % compared to Condition A and Condition across varying rainfall intensities.