A-Level Geography - Human - Urban Drainage

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  • Created by: Noah_S
  • Created on: 16-02-22 10:46
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  • Urban Drainage
    • Urban Precipitation & Drainage
      • Characteristics
        • Cities have warmer air, holding more moisture
          • Cities have 5-15% more precipitation
        • Dust and pollution make more condensation nuclei
          • Cities have 5-15% more precipitation
        • Less vegetation reduces evapotranspiration and humidity in urban areas
        • Less vegetation reduces interception causing precipitation to land on impermeable urban surfaces
        • Infiltration is reduced so drains are needed to remove surface water quickly
      • Impacts on drainage basin storage areas
        • Urban rivers are important stores, as they are the exit for water transferred through the basin
          • Dredging, embanking and channelisation will increase their capacity
        • Reservoirs, lakes, ponds & swimming pools are permanent stores, but may suffer evaporation
        • Interception storage is reduced due to the replacement of vegetation
          • Replaced with impermeable surfaces engineered to drain water rapidly into the river
        • Soil moisture will vary according to ground conditions, but generally less soil storage capacity
          • Due to less exposed surfaces and vegetated areas
    • Drainage Management
      • Soft Engineering
        • Afforestation
          • Plants trees to establish a woodland or forest
          • Trees increase interception & evapotranspiration and reduce throughflow & surface runoff, less water received by rivers
        • Floodplain zoning
          • Restricts different land use to certain locations on the floodplain
          • Natural floodplains act as a natural soakaway, so protecting them reduces surface runoff into the channel
      • Hard Engineering
        • River Straightening
          • Involves cutting through meanders to create a straight channel
          • Increases flow which could increase flood risk further down
        • River Channelisation
          • Involves lining straightened channels with concrete
          • Reduces friction, increasing flow but looks unsightly & damages local ecosystem
      • Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems
        • Represent the environmentally friendly replication of natural drainage systems
        • They hold back and slow surface runoff from any development & allow natural breakdown of pollutants
        • Techniques include swales and permeable surfaces
          • Swales are wide, shallow drainage channels that are normally dry
          • Permeable roads/surfaces allow water through
        • Slows down surface water, reducing risk of sewer flooding & recharges groundwater
    • Case Study - Lamb Drove, Cambourne
      • Aims
        • Cambridgeshire is a low-lying county, at risk from flooding in river valleys & urban watercourses
        • Demonstrate that SUDS are a viable and attractive alternative to traditional forms of drainage
      • Usage of SUDS
        • Water butts are used to collect roof water for garden irrigation
        • Permeable paving allows water to enter porous storage zones to filter out pollutants
        • Detention basins and wetlands in open spaces slow down the runoff rate and store water on a short term basis
        • A retention pond for final storage of water before being released into a drainage ditch beyond the site
      • Impacts
        • Construction and ongoing maintenance costs have been 10% less than conventional pipe drainage systems
        • Improvement of biodiversity, ecology and quality of life at the site
        • Has created a visually enhanced & attractive landscape providing social value
        • Improved quality of water leaving the site

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