Course overview
This course will continue to develop students' in-depth understanding on how water-sensitive practices can be integrated into 'greenfield' and developed urban landscapes resulting in cost-effective and sustainable urban drainage systems. At the completion of the course, it is intended that students will be able to: explain the concepts of quantity, quality and harvesting as they relate to the field of water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) practice; introduce the 'source control' concept and its application to flood management, stormwater treatment/control and stormwater harvesting; explain procedures including 'best practice' guidelines and limitations for designing systems for stormwater quantity management, quality improvement and harvesting; review ongoing development of the 'green infrastructure' movement and its relationship to WSUD and international practices such as SuDS and LID; describe the physical, chemical and biological water quality parameters that cause ecosystem degradation and how these parameters can be used to govern the design of green infrastructure systems; become familiar with applying procedures including 'best practice' guidelines for designing WSUD systems including sediment basins, bioretention devices, swales and constructed wetlands.
Course learning outcomes
- Identify differences between conventional urban drainage systems and those which are 'water-sensitive'.
- Apply the 'source control' concept to the quantity, quality and harvesting aspects of 'water-sensitive' practice.
- Design simple flood management and stormwater harvesting systems.
- Perform all calculations and recommend appropriate media and vegetation required to design selected green infrastructure installations.
- Develop knowledge and skills in the application of water-sensitive principles to identify opportunities for inserting green infrastructure into the urban landscape.