DRAINAGE FROM HIGHWAYS AND OTHER PAVED AREAS - METHODS OF COLLECTION,DISPOSAL AND TREATMENT

Drainage of surface water from paved areas has been a fundamental part of urban planning and highway design for more than 100 years, and man y aspects have changed little during this time. However, there have be en recent developments in awareness of the need to treat potential pol lution from paved surface runoff, as well as the need for flow attenua tion and for water quality monitoring. A product of this increased awa reness has been the conversion of vegetative treatment systems, tradit ionally designed to treat domestic and industrial wastewaters, to the treatment of paved surface runoff. The use of vegetative treatment sys tems for this purpose is as yet relatively untested. This paper theref ore provides a brief review of the engineering methods for the collect ion, transport and treatment of paved surface runoff. It then goes on to describe the different types of vegetative treatment systems which are available, their value and role, and appropriate situations for th eir use. Finally, consideration is given to the need to monitor the ef ficiency of these systems in order to establish their effectiveness, a nd a description is given of monitoring methods which may be appropria te.