Rain gardens as integral parts of urban sewage systems-A case study in Thessaloniki, Greece

摘要

The use of rain gardens and other ecological rainwater management methods in urban areas aims, among others, at: 1) reduction of total rainwater runoff and of its peak and 2) reduction of property damage and activity disruption, which is due to insufficient sewer network capacity. While rain gardens cannot substitute sewer networks, they can be used as integral parts of sewer systems in a cost-efficient way. In this paper, integration of rain gardens in sewer systems is investigated, by means of a case study, in Thessaloniki, Greece. The effect of location and size of rain gardens is examined, together with the quality of local sewer network. Our calculations have shown that existing infrastructure is insufficient and that construction of rain gardens could substantially mitigate the nuisance caused by inundation of streets and sidewalks during rain events.