Does Water Flow Uphill?

By Zach Sample, P.E., Green Infrastructure Design Products Manager

Be honest – how many times would you answer yes to the following questions? Have you ever submitted or reviewed:

A water quality treatment design where the calculated facilities would be too long or big to fit on the site?
A design which tries to move water uphill because the levels are not part of the analysis?
A design where the outlet is higher than the maximum possible water level so the SWC cannot drain?
An issue with a drainage design after it was reviewed and approved by the client or city?

I’ve certainly had these scenarios described to me by clients. I’ve even personally completed a final stormwater drainage design that had issues surface as the project was built. I doubt I am alone in that though.

One time, while I presented on the merits of thoughtful holistic green infrastructure implementation at a municipality, an attendee was given plans from a consultant showing SWC facilities designed so incorrectly that water would have to run uphill to work. We are talking about a professional engineer screwing up the grade school ‘two step’ hydrologic cycle: 1) It rains; 2) Water runs downhill.

How did this happen? How can any of these issues occur? We are trained and licensed professionals, right? We have the stamp to prove it! How could we not see the very real flaws in our designs?

I think that last question highlights the point – with traditional design methodologies and technologies, we cannot clearly ‘see’ or understand how our stormwater drainage systems will behave.

Clearly understanding and communicating the functionality of complex drainage systems is the single most impactful component of the design process. The benefits of clearly communicated and better understood drainage planning are numerous, but perhaps none stand out more than time gains.

The quicker we can find a mistake in the design, the faster we can adjust our plans accordingly, the shorter our design project will take, the easier it will be to get buy in from management, the more our deliverables will be early, and the happier our clients will be. And I like happy clients.

But these benefits are not solely realized by private consulting firms. The more clearly the sustainable drainage plan is laid out, the more the City engineers can trust the competency of the designs, the less issues will be encountered during construction, the better civic engagement will be around the success of these projects, and the more frequently the City can undertake sustainable green infrastructure projects.

The bottom line is this: If we convey our plans and our intentions in a clear and quantifiable way, then we can better serve the greater communities around us…which is kind of the whole point of what we are doing as engineers.

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