The Problems with Inadequate Urban Drainage

May 9
19:24

2012

Mason Bethel

Mason Bethel

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Many cities and urban centres around the world house a significant percentage of the planet’s nine-billion plus population. With more areas becoming developed and urbanised at great pace, many challenges arise including pollution, access to basic social services, health and sanitation, peace and order, traffic, migration and public infrastructures. With regards to infrastructures, drainage systems are perhaps the most challenging issue to address in urban societies.

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Challenges with the Lack of Proper Drainage

If you have been to many cities in the world,The Problems with Inadequate Urban Drainage  Articles especially third world and developing cities, you will notice how poorly people dispose their sewage. Many homes are not connected to underground drainage systems. As a result, great amount of sewage are disposed into open canals, waterways and surface drains. No wonder why pollution and flooding are rampant.

With proper drainage lacking, people put themselves into an ongoing contact with contaminated water and flooding. Millions of millions of people could be living in unsanitary conditions and in types of dwellings not fit for humans to live. If people continue to thrive in unsanitary or inhumanely conditions, cases of diseases will increase. 

With no proper drainage systems in place, the movement of greywater or domestic wastewater and stormwater can pose a great health threat (water-borne diseases) and environmental threat (flooding, water pollution, soil movement and damage of structures). Many local and state governments fail to realise that every drop of wastewater brought into human settlement should be safely removed. No wonder why drainage was not even included in many development goals.

What about Poorly Maintaned Drainages?

If flooding is rampant despite the presence of drains, it could be that the drains are not properly maintained. If they cannot drain excess water, chances are that they could be blocked or clogged due to accumulated solid wastes. Collected wastes along drains can reduce its draining efficiency and release a foul odour. This is not good for health and public sanitation. 

Accumulated wastes in poorly maintain drains are one reason why it floods. Inadequate draining systems can aggravate flooding situations in many poorly planned and developed areas.

Do We Ever Need Proper Drainage?

Yes, we do. It is not right to dispose sewage into surface drains, canals and in any waterways. The exposes filth and stench to the populace, and this is such an eyesore to the public. We need a proper drainage system to drain wastewater and stormwater and treat them for any purposes we want.

With the presence of proper drainage in our areas, we could be able to make the most out of modern water technologies and convert wastewater into potable drinking water like what Singapore, a country with limited water resources, did. Proper drainage is also one of the criteria for effective waste management and recycling. Furthermore, this will also contribute to less flooding in our city roads and highways, thus easing traffic problems. The public needs professional drainage servicemen to clean and maintain drains.

Hope local and state governments would have sufficient funds and manpower to provide adequate drainages and to train level 1 ASP drainage experts in areas that need it badly. We have terrible flooding in Australia. We should address this as soon as possible.