Use of weather radar for combined control of an urban drainage system and a sewage treatment plant

In present practice, the design and operation of urban drainage systems, and the corresponding sewage treatment plants, are usually independent. In this paper an approach is presented, the aim of which is joint operation of an urban drainage system and the corresponding sewage treatment plant. This operation will be based on real-time flood forecasts, which are computed with the aid of radar rainfall measurements. The goal of this control is to minimize the combined negative effects of the hydraulic load (water quantity) and the pollution load (water quality) in the receiving waters during floods. In growing urban areas, higher imperviousness is the cause for increased flood peaks and volumes in the receiving water. In the test basin used, an industrial area with a high imperviousness strongly effects the control of the total system.