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Contents This article is about tunnels that carry runoff from urban
streets. For the early sewers designed to carry both waste
1 Nomenclature 1 and storm water, see Combined sewer. For the modern
sewer system that carries waste, see Sanitary sewer.
A storm drain, storm sewer (US), surface water
2 Function 1
2.1 Inlet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2.2 Piping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.3 Outlet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3 Environmental impacts 3
3.1 Water quantity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2 Water quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.3 Reducing stormwater flows . . . . . . . 3
3.4 Mosquito breeding . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

4 Relationship to sanitary sewer systems 4

4.1 Combined sewers . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

5 Regulations and local building codes 5

5.1 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Storm drain with its pipe visible beneath it due to construction
work
6 Exploration 5
drain/sewer (UK), stormwater drain (Australia and
New Zealand), or simply a drain or drain system is
7 Residence 5
designed to drain excess rain and ground water from
impervious surfaces such as paved streets, car parks,
8 History 5 parking lots, footpaths, sidewalks, and roofs. Storm
drains vary in design from small residential dry wells
9 Gallery 5 to large municipal systems. They are fed by street gut-
ters on most motorways, freeways and other busy roads,
10 See also 6 as well as towns in areas which experience heavy rain-
fall, flooding and coastal towns which experience regu-
lar storms. Many storm drainage systems are designed to
11 References 6
drain the storm water, untreated, into rivers or streams.

12 External links 6 Some storm drains lead to a mixing of stormwater (rain-

13 Text and image sources, contributors, and li-
censes
13.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13.2 Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13.3 Content license . . . . . . . . . . . . .
water) with sewage, either intentionally – in the case of
combined sewers – or unintentionally.
7
7 1 Nomenclature
7
7 There are several related terms which are used differently
in American and British English:

2 Function

2.1 Inlet
There are two main types of stormwater drain (highway
drain or road gully in the UK) inlets: side inlets and grated
inlets. Side inlets are located adjacent to the curb (kerb)
2 2 FUNCTION

American-style curbside storm drain receiving urban runoff

Old German storm drain in Küstrin (now Kostrzyn nad Odrą in

Poland)

do block the egress of gases and rodents.

Most catchbasins will contain stagnant water during the
drier parts of the year, and can, in warm countries, be
used by mosquitos for breeding. Larvicides or disrup-
tive larval hormones, sometimes released from “mosquito
biscuits”, have been used to control mosquito breeding
in catchbasins. Mosquitoes may be physically prevented
from reaching the standing water or migrating into the
sewer proper by the use of an “inverted cone filter”. An-
Full view of a storm drain (Ontario, Canada) other method of mosquito control is to spread a thin layer
of oil on the surface of stagnant water, interfering with
the breathing tubes of mosquito larvae.
and rely on the ability of the opening under the backstone The performance of catchbasins at removing sediment
or lintel to capture flow. They are usually depressed at the and other pollutants depends on the design of the catch-
invert of the channel to improve capture capacity.[4] basin (for example, the size of the sump), and on routine
Many inlets have gratings or grids to prevent people, ve- maintenance to retain the storage available in the sump
hicles, large objects or debris from falling into the storm to capture sediment. Municipalities typically have large
drain. Grate bars are spaced so that the flow of water is vacuum trucks that perform this task.
not impeded, but sediment and many small objects can Catchbasins act as a first-line pretreatment for other
also fall through. However, if grate bars are too far apart, treatment practices, such as retention basins, by capturing
the openings may present a risk to pedestrians, bicyclists, large sediments and street litter from urban runoff before
and others in the vicinity. Grates with long narrow slots it enters the storm drainage pipes.
parallel to traffic flow are of particular concern to cyclists,
as the front tire of a bicycle may become stuck, causing
the cyclist to go over the handlebars or lose control and
fall.[5] Storm drains in streets and parking areas must be
strong enough to support the weight of vehicles, and are
often made of cast iron or reinforced concrete.
Some of the heavier sediment and small objects may settle
in a catchbasin, or sump, which lies immediately below
the outlet, where water from the top of the catchbasin
reservoir overflows into the sewer proper. The catchbasin
serves much the same function as the “trap” in household
wastewater plumbing in trapping objects.
In the United States, unlike the plumbing trap, the catch-
basin does not necessarily prevent sewer gases such as
hydrogen sulfide and methane from escaping. However,
A storm sewer under the main road empties into a bigger open
in the United Kingdom, where they are called gully channel
pots,[6] they are designed as true water-filled traps and
3.3 Reducing stormwater flows 3

2.2 Piping of gasoline and other fossil fuels. Roof runoff con-
tributes high levels of synthetic organic compounds and
Pipes can come in many different cross-sectional shapes zinc (from galvanized gutters). Fertilizer use on residen-
(rectangular, square, bread-loaf-shaped, oval, inverted tial lawns, parks and golf courses is a significant source
pear-shaped, egg shaped, and most commonly, circu- of nitrates and phosphorus.[8][9]
lar). Drainage systems may have many different fea- Separation of undesired runoff can be done by installing
tures including waterfalls, stairways, balconies and pits devices within the storm sewer system. These devices are
for catching rubbish, sometimes called Gross Pollutant new to the market and can only be installed with new de-
Traps (GPTs). Pipes made of different materials can also velopment or during major upgrades. They are referred
be used, such as brick, concrete, high-density polyethy- to as oil-grit separators (OGS) or oil-sediment separators
lene or galvanized steel. Fibre reinforced plastic is start- (OSS). They consist of a specialized manhole chamber,
ing to see widespread use for drain pipes and fittings. and use the water flow and/or gravity to separate oil and
grit.[10]

2.3 Outlet
Most drains have a single large exit at their point of dis-
charge (often covered by a grating) into a canal, river,
lake, reservoir, sea or ocean. Other than catchbasins,
typically there are no treatment facilities in the piping
system. Small storm drains may discharge into individ-
ual dry wells. Storm drains may be interconnected us-
ing slotted pipe, to make a larger dry well system. Storm
drains may discharge into man-made excavations known
as recharge basins or retention ponds.
3 Environmental impacts
3.1 Water quantity
Storm drains are often unable to manage the quantity of
rain that falls during heavy rains and/or storms. When
storm drains are inundated, basement and street flooding
can occur. Unlike catastrophic flooding events, this type
of urban flooding occurs in built-up areas where man-
made drainage systems are prevalent. Urban flooding is
the primary cause of sewer backups and basement flood-
ing which can affect properties year after year.[7]
3.2 Water quality
3.3 Reducing stormwater flows
Runoff into storm sewers can be minimized by includ-
ing sustainable urban drainage systems (UK term) or
low impact development or green infrastructure practices
(US terms) into municipal plans. To reduce stormwater
from rooftops, flows from eaves troughs (rain gutters and
downspouts) may be infiltrated into adjacent soil, rather
than discharged into the storm sewer system. Storm wa-
ter runoff from paved surfaces can be directed to un-
lined ditches (sometimes called swales or bioswales) be-
fore flowing into the storm sewers, again to allow the
runoff to soak into the ground. Permeable paving ma-
terials can be used in building sidewalks, driveways and
in some cases, parking lots, to infiltrate a portion of the
stormwater volume.[11]
In many areas, detention tanks are required to be installed
inside a property and are used to temporarily hold rainwa-
ter runoff during heavy rains and restrict the outlet flow
to the public sewer. This lessens the risk of the public
sewer being overburdened during heavy rain. An over-
flow outlet may also be utilized which connects higher on
the outlet side of the detention tank. This overflow would
prevent the detention tank from completely filling up. By
restricting the flow of water in this way and temporarily
holding the water in a detention tank public sewers are far
less likely to become surcharged.

Main article: Urban runoff 3.4 Mosquito breeding

The first flush from urban runoff can be extremely dirty. See also: Mosquito control
Storm water may become contaminated while running
down the road or other impervious surface, or from lawn Catch basins are commonly designed with a sump area
chemical run-off, before entering the drain. below the outlet pipe level which is a reservoir for water
Water running off these impervious surfaces tends to and debris to help prevent the pipe from clogging. Unless
pick up gasoline, motor oil, heavy metals, trash and they are constructed with permeable bottoms to allow wa-
other pollutants from roadways and parking lots, as well ter to infiltrate into the underlying soil, this subterranean
as fertilizers and pesticides from lawns. Roads and basin can become a perfect mosquito breeding area be-
parking lots are major sources of nickel, copper, zinc, cause it is cool, dark, and retains stagnant water for long
cadmium, lead and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons periods of time. Combined with standard grates which
(PAHs), which are created as combustion byproducts have holes large enough for mosquitoes to enter and leave
4 4 RELATIONSHIP TO SANITARY SEWER SYSTEMS

the basin, this is a major problem in mosquito control.[12]

tary sewers helps to prevent sewage treatment plants be-
Basins can be filled with concrete up to the pipe level coming overwhelmed by infiltration/inflow during a rain-
to prevent this reservoir from forming. Without proper storm, which can result in untreated sewage being dis-
maintenance, the functionality of the basin is question- charged into the environment.
able, as these catch basins are most commonly not cleaned Many storm drainage systems are designed to drain the
annually as is needed to make them perform as designed. storm water, untreated, into rivers or streams. Many local
The trapping of debris serves no purpose because once governments conduct public awareness campaigns about
filled they operate as if no basins was present, but con- this, lest waste be dumped into the storm drain system.[13]
tinue to allow a shallow area of water retention for the In the city of Cleveland, Ohio, for example, all new catch
breeding of mosquito. Moreover, even if cleaned and basins installed have inscriptions on them not to dump any
maintained, the water reservoir remains filled, accommo- waste, and usually include a fish imprint as well. Trout
dating the breeding of mosquitoes. Unlimited Canada recommends that a yellow fish symbol
be painted next to existing storm drains.[14]

4 Relationship to sanitary sewer

systems

4.1 Combined sewers

Main article: Combined sewer

Cities that installed their sewage collection systems before

Sign alerting public to avoid dumping waste into storm drains
Typical signage embedded in pavement next to a storm drain in tion tank. This overflow would prevent the detention tank
Boston, in the United States
Storm drains are separate and distinct from sanitary sewer detention tank or by roof detention public sewers are far
systems. The separation of storm sewers from sani- less likely to become surcharged.[19]
the 1930s typically used single piping systems to trans-
port both urban runoff and sewage. This type of collec-
tion system is referred to as a combined sewer system
(CSS). The cities’ rationale when combined sewers were
built was that it would be cheaper to build just a single
system.[15] In these systems a sudden large rainfall that ex-
ceeds sewage treatment capacity will be allowed to over-
flow directly from the storm drains into receiving waters
via structures called combined sewer overflows.[16]
Storm drains are typically at shallower depths than com-
bined sewers; because, while storm drains are designed to
accept surface runoff from streets, combined sewers were
designed to also accept sewage flows from buildings with
basements.[17]
New York City, Washington DC, Seattle and other cities
with combined systems have this problem due to a large
influx of storm water after every heavy rain. Some cities
have dealt with this by adding large storage tanks or ponds
to hold the water until it can be treated. Chicago has a sys-
tem of tunnels, collectively called the Deep Tunnel, un-
derneath the city for storing its stormwater.[18] In many
areas detention tanks or roof detention systems are re-
quired to be installed for a property and are used to tem-
porarily hold rainwater runoff during heavy rains and re-
strict the outlet flow to the public sewer. This lessens
the risk of the public sewer being overburdened during
a heavy rain. An overflow outlet may also be utilized
which connects higher on the outlet side of the deten-
from completely filling up. By restricting the flow of wa-
ter in this way and temporarily holding the water in a
 5

5 Regulations and local building of them making a living finding unclaimed winnings in
the gambling machines.[24] An organization called Shine
codes a Light was founded in 2009 to help the drain residents
after over 20 drowning deaths occurred in the preced-
Building codes and local government ordinances vary ing years.[24][25] A man in San Diego was evicted from a
greatly on the handling of storm drain runoff. New devel- storm drain after living there for nine months in 1986.[26]
opments might be required to construct their own storm
drain processing capacity for returning the runoff to the
water table and bioswales may be required in sensitive
ecological areas to protect the watershed. 8 History
In the United States, cities, suburban communities and
towns with over 10,000 population are required to obtain
discharge permits for their storm sewer systems, under
the Clean Water Act.[20] The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) issued stormwater regulations for large
cities in 1990 and for other communities in 1999.[21] The
permits require local governments to operate stormwa-
ter management programs, covering both construction of
new buildings and facilities, and maintenance of their ex-
isting municipal drainage networks. Many municipalities
have revised their local ordinances covering management
of runoff. State government facilities, such as roads and
highways, are also subject to the stormwater management
regulations.[22] Many local municipalities have placed or-
dinances for both commercial and residential stormwater
management practices to be designed, implemented, and
approved before an occupancy permit is released.

5.1 Examples Ancient Roman gully hole in Ostia Antica in Italy

Southeastern Los Angeles County installed thousands of Archaeological studies have revealed use of rather so-
stainless steel, full-capture trash devices on their road phisticated stormwater runoff systems in ancient cultures.
drains in 2011.[23] For example, in Minoan Crete approximately 4000 years
before present, cities such as Phaistos were designed
to have storm drains and channels to collect precipita-
6 Exploration tion runoff. At Cretan Knossos, storm drains include
stone-lined structures large enough for a person to crawl
through.[27] Other examples of early civilizations with el-
Main article: Urban exploration
ements of stormwater drain systems include early people
of Mainland Orkney such as Gurness and the Brough of
An international subculture has grown up around the ex- Birsay in Scotland.
ploration of stormwater drains. Societies such as the
Cave Clan regularly explore the drains underneath cities.
This is commonly known as "urban exploration,” but is
also known as draining when in specific relation to storm
9 Gallery
drains.
• A storm drain discharging into the River Brent in the
UK.
7 Residence • Iron Cove Creek, Sydney, Australia.

See also: Mole people, Underclass and Underground • Inside of a large reinforced concrete box storm drain
living in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

• Storm drain in Obertraun, Austria.

In several large American cities, homeless people live
in storm drains. At least 300 people live in the 200 • Storm drain overflowing in Durham, North Car-
miles of underground storm drains of Las Vegas, many olina.
6 12
• 114” pipe installation; Pipe: 114” aluminized type
2; Flow: 25 cubic meters/second; This is a storm
drain in Guasave, Mexico.
• The inlet to a storm drain in Markeaton, Derby al-
lowing a river to overflow into the storm drain.
• Inside the Markeaton Interceptor Storm Relief Cul-
vert
• Old storm drain in Kutná Hora, the Czech Republic
10 See also
• Urban runoff
• Water pollution
• Pervious concrete roads
11 References
[1] King, compiled by James J. (1995). The environmental
dictionary : and regulatory cross reference (3rd ed.). New
York: Wiley. p. 121. ISBN 0-471-11995-4.
[2] King, compiled by James J. (1995). The environmental
dictionary : and regulatory cross reference (3rd ed.). New
York: Wiley. p. 668. ISBN 0-471-11995-4.
[3] Amimoto, Perry Y. (1981). Erosion and Sediment Control
Handbook. State of California. p. 109.
[4] Kerb Inlet, Local Government & Municipal Knowledge
Base, accessed February 6, 2010
[5] “technotes” (PDF). Maryland Transportation Technology
Transfer Center.
[6] Field, Richard and Daniel Sullivan.Wet-Weather Flow in
the Urban Watershed: Technology and Management, p.
109, at Google Books
[7] http://www.cnt.org/media/CNT_
PrevalenceAndCostOfUrbanFlooding.pdf
[8] Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, VA; and
American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, VA. “Urban
Runoff Quality Management.” WEF Manual of Practice
No. 23; ASCE Manual and Report on Engineering Prac-
tice No. 87. 1998. ISBN 1-57278-039-8. Chapter 1.
[9] G. Allen Burton, Jr., Robert Pitt (2001). Stormwater Ef-
fects Handbook: A Toolbox for Watershed Managers, Sci-
entists, and Engineers. New York: CRC/Lewis Publishers.
ISBN 0-87371-924-7. Chapter 2.
[10] Shoemaker, Leslie; Lahlou, Mohammed; Doll, Amy;
Cazenas, Patricia (2002). “Fact Sheet--Oil/Grit Separa-
tor Units”. Stormwater Best Management Practices in an
Ultra-Urban Setting: Selection and Monitoring. Washing-
ton, DC: U.S. Federal Highway Administration.
EXTERNAL LINKS
[11] Brattebo, B. O.; Booth, D. B. (2003). “Long-Term
Stormwater Quantity and Quality Performance of Per-
meable Pavement Systems” (PDF). Water Research 37:
4369–4376. doi:10.1016/S0043-1354(03)00410-X.
[12] Clinical Medicine & Research February 1, 2005 vol. 3
no. 1 3-12.
[13] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washing-
ton, DC. “Public Education and Outreach on Stormwater
Impacts.” 2008-09-17.
[14] Trout Unlimited, Calgary, AB. “How does Yellow Fish
Road Work?" Accessed 2011-11-16.
[15] Burrian, Steven J., et al. (1999).“The Historical Develop-
ment of Wet-Weather Flow Management.” EPA, National
Risk Management Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH.
Document No. EPA/600/JA-99/275.
[16] EPA. “Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Control Policy.”
Federal Register, 59 FR 18688. April 19, 1994.
[17] Metcalf & Eddy, Inc. (1972). Wastewater Engineering.
New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 119.
[18] American City & County (1996). “Chicago digs deep to
better manage stormwater.” 1996-06-01.
[19] Water Watch NYC, New York, NY (2008-07-14).“Green
Roof – Blue Roof.”
[20] U.S. Water Quality Act of 1987, Pub.L. 100-4, 101 Stat.
69, 33 U.S.C. § 1342(p), February 4, 1987.
[21] EPA. “Stormwater Discharges From Municipal Separate
Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s).” 2009-03-11.
[22] Woelkers, David A. (2002). “Tidal Wave: Stormwa-
ter Ordinances as a BMP for Phase II.” Stormwater,
September–October 2002.
[23] “Tons of L.A. River trash will be captured before it hits
the sea” Los Angeles Times. November 1, 2011.
[24] Adams, Guy (14 September 2009). “Subterranean home
of Las Vegas’s losers”. The Independent. Retrieved 21
May 2010.
[25] O'Brien, Matt (2007). Beneath the Neon: Life and Death
in the Tunnels of Las Vegas. Huntington Press. ISBN 0-
929712-39-0.
[26] Associated Press (17 April 1986). “Sewer loser”. Beaver
Country Times. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
[27] C. Michael Hogan (2007). “Knossos fieldnotes.” Modern
Antiquarian.
12 External links
• EPA - Combined Sewer Overflows
• EPA Storm Drain Stenciling Project Guidelines
• 7 Steps to Clean Water from Great Lakes Green
Initiative (example of a local public awareness pro-
gram)
 7

13 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

13.1 Text
• Storm drain Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_drain?oldid=714350465 Contributors: Bryan Derksen, Edward, Michael Hardy,
Glenn, Billdakelski, Steinsky, Tpbradbury, Rls, Dhodges, Everyking, Brockert, Mu, CaribDigita, Lpangelrob, Jkeiser, JTN, Iainscott, Snark,
the hunting of, Florian Blaschke, Robert P. O'Shea, Circeus, Duk, Makawity, Jjron, Beyondthislife, Grutness, TheParanoidOne, Paleor-
thid, Avenue, Scott5114, Wtmitchell, Velella, Danhash, TVBZ28, LukeSurl, Woohookitty, Deltabeignet, Rjwilmsi, Captain Disdain, Veg-
aswikian, NeonMerlin, Bhadani, Rz350, Digitalme, Cornellrockey, YurikBot, Rsrikanth05, Wimt, Saberwyn, Peggy Brennan, User27091,
MutantMonkey, SmackBot, Hmains, Barrymitchelson, Thisisbossi, Dogears, Rklawton, Iridescent, JoeBot, RekishiEJ, Woodshed, East-
law, Van helsing, Mateus Hidalgo, Basar, Cydebot, A876, Albert Davies, Doug Weller, Thijs!bot, Luna Santin, Just Chilling, Mutt Lunker,
TuvicBot, Hut 8.5, PhilKnight, Imprezzive1, Thompson.matthew, Gun Powder Ma, Darkenfair, Jim.henderson, All Is One, Shaunus4,
Fr33kman, Triskele Jim, Fences and windows, Mark v1.0, Onore Baka Sama, Winchelsea, Cuvette, Chansonh, Mercenario97, ImageR-
emovalBot, ClueBot, Smegs07, Pudelek, Ktr101, Designanddraft, Moreau1, Wejdas, Ouedbirdwatcher, Jennifer59~enwiki, Thewellman,
Tarheel95, UESPArules, Cewvero, Addbot, Lysippos, Zarcadia, Dhscommtech, Myheartinchile, Vegaswikian1, VP-bot, Yobot, Specious,
Synchronism, Tonyrex, RobertEves92, Jenkins Mc, ArthurBot, LilHelpa, Xqbot, Jadelllave, FrescoBot, Tinton5, Mightygreenm, Dinamik-
bot, Miracle Pen, EmausBot, Eekerz, K6ka, ZéroBot, Davidbalkan, Anonimski, Wipsenade, Gagzavna, ClueBot NG, Reify-tech, Help-
ful Pixie Bot, Bmusician, Evangelidis, David Balkan, BattyBot, W.D., EuroCarGT, Neuhausr, Nikikana, Lizmiller13, SarahRMadden,
DamianDamon, Oiyarbepsy, EvMsmile, Xovady, Qzd and Anonymous: 76

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