| By :
Adrianna Noton
Storm water is defined as the result of precipitation occurrences, usually due to extremely heavy rainfall. Snow melting can also contribute to post-storm levels. Health and safety reasons dictate that careful storm water management is crucial, especially in urban environments. The flooding caused by storms can be a carrier of pollutants or pathogens, and it can also present hazards to water supplies and flood defences. However, carefully managed in selected locations, this can be a potentially very useful, with proper purification allowing it to be a ready source of self-sustaining supplies for urban areas. Storm run-off can be a particular problem for cities and towns. The British city of Sheffield suffered massive flooding in the summer of 2007 as a result of a period of unseasonably wet weather. This led to a massive re-evaluation of the city's flood defences, with the many rivers and streams in the area being cleared of bankside and other obstructive debris, and features such as weirs being renovated and redesigned as part of a massive re-evaluation of how the city uses its aquatic resources. Such methods are typical of modern management techniques, but there are others, particularly when it comes to educating communities about the potential hazards of flooding caused by storms or freak events. Property owners often need to be appraised of certain factors; the use of garden building materials which seal off soil, for example. Impervious surfaces do not allow rain to seep into the ground as it should, this therefore generates more surface run-off, which can be tricky for existing natural watercourses to cope with. It also adds to the erosion suffered by existing watercourses. As liquid is carried by pipes and other conveyors from urban areas into streams and rivers more quickly nowadays, waterways can become overwhelmed at dangerous speeds. This process can exacerbate flooding, as existing facilities, or collection systems, for the additional flow generated by a storm can be overwhelmed. Additionally, as liquid is washed out of the system during the flooding event, impervious ground surfaces mean that it is hard for supplies to be replenished in dry weather. This means that ponds and 'soft' man-made defences such as ponds, bioswales and artificially-created wetlands become just as important is managing additional flow as the 'hard' structures, such as concrete drains and pipes, which are normally associated with managing water flow. Polluted surface run-off can also cause problems for natural aquatic resources, as it flows into rivers, lakes, ponds and man-made sewers. Other possible environmental issues include the disruption of natural local flows, which can disrupt the breeding patterns of wildlife, as well as the proliferation of invasive flora. Storm water management systems are ancient; archaeological remains of ancient systems have been discovered on the Greek island of Crete at Minoan Phaistos. As problems such as global warming and an ever expanding world population place more pressure on demand, it would appear that managing water, a problem which has always tested humans, is not a issue which is about to disappear.
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