Sustainable stormwater management: Case study for Metu Northern Cyprus Campus and the Town of Guzelyurt

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2023-6
Baig , Mirza Mohammed Abdul Basith Baig
This study addresses the challenges posed by rapid urbanization and climate change on traditional piped drainage systems, which often lead to pluvial flooding and associated damages. As an alternative, a sustainable urban drainage system incorporating low impact development (LID) practices is implemented at the Middle East Technical University, Northern Cyprus Campus. The LID practices include bio-retention basins, permeable pavements, and rainwater harvesting systems. The research findings demonstrate significant reductions in both runoff volume and peak discharge, with the maximum reductions observed at 96.42% and 92.85%, respectively. Moreover, a notable reduction of 65% in pollutants is achieved. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted to evaluate the environmental costs associated with the LID practices. Results reveal that the rainwater harvesting system exhibits the lowest environmental impact, followed by the bio-retention system and permeable pavement system. Furthermore, the implementation of LID strategies in Guzelyurt Town demonstrates their efficacy in reducing runoff volume and peak discharges while enhancing the stormwater drainage system's capacity to handle rainfall intensities of up to 40 mm/hr. A comparative analysis is conducted between LID solutions and a traditional approach for flood mitigation in Guzelyurt, with the LCA indicating that LID solutions have a higher environmental impact than the traditional method. Finally, an economic analysis reveals that implementing LID solutions in Guzelyurt catchment incurs approximately three times higher costs which was 4,712,104 TL (206,229 USD) compared to the traditional approach which was 1,683,208 TL (71,322 USD).
Citation Formats
M. M. A. B. B. Baig, “Sustainable stormwater management: Case study for Metu Northern Cyprus Campus and the Town of Guzelyurt,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2023.