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Urban Storm Water Practice in Germany

Hansjrg Brombach

UFT Umwelt- und Fluid-Technik Dr. H. Brombach GmbH, Steinstr. 7,


97980 Bad Mergentheim, Germany; uft@uft-brombach.de

Abstract

The paper reflects the overall European history of urban storm water practice, with a specific
focus on Germany. The European and German Water Policy is described in brief. By now,
there are 31,000 CSO-tanks in operation in Germany. They represent a total storage of over
33 billion m3 or 400 litres per German citizen. About another 20,000 old CSOs shall be reha-
bilitated in the next 20 years. The investment into CSO-control in the past 25 years was about
400 (Euros; European Dollars) per capita. Seven different layouts of storm water tanks with
sizes ranging from 50 to 17,600 m3 are shown in detail and described concisely. The paper
closes with a short discussion of latest trends in technical equipment to reduce the impacts of
CSOs.

Historical Look Back

Urban storm water management has a long history in Europe. The trunk sewers in Rome, It-
aly, called Cloaca Maxima, were a size that ships could pass through. The first systematic
sewer flushing action in Rome was arranged and paid by Agrippa (64 B.C. 12 A.C.) in 32
B.C. Some parts of the Cloaca Maxima are today still in operation. In the dark Middle Ages,
the technical know-how of Mediterranean and Oriental urban drainage was lost.
During the industrial revolution urban drainage management got a fresh start in Eng-
land in the 19th century. It was a type of a wild mixed system that just carried the sewage
out of the city in the shortest distance to a receiving water. In Leamington the first real sepa-
rate system was implemented in 1870. At the end of the century British design rules spread to
Continental Europe. The famous English engineer William Lindley (1808 1900) planned the
general layout of the sewer systems for Frankfort and many other German cities, but also for
Ble, Prague and Warsaw and even for Sydney, Australia. Other great European names in
sanitary engineering included William Phillips Dunbar (1863 1922), Robert Koch (1843
1910), Max von Pettenkofer (1818 1901), Karl Imhoff (1876 1965) and others, see ATV
(1998).
Following the British roots of sewer planning, by 1914 very nearly all middle sized to
large cities in Germany got combined sewer systems. Small towns, which are most common
in Germany, only got adequate collecting systems much later often systems of the separate
type.
In order not to surcharge the mechanical treatment plants of these early works at the
end of the collecting network, combined sewer overflow (CSO) devices were found to be nec-
essary to allow large inflows to be spilled directly into the receiving waters. At that time, it
was assumed that the spilled water was sufficiently diluted. Soon, however, it was discovered
that the spilled water carried a large pollutant load. This load could be significantly reduced
by providing some extra storage volume at the overflows and/or to allow to retain some runoff
volume and to settle heavy sediments before overflowing into the receiving waters. The first
Rainwater Treatment Plant within a combined sewer in Germany was built in 1913 and
reported from Engberding (1915), see Figure 1. Engberding died in World War I and his pa-

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per was published posthumously. As a result of the World-War I and II, the technological lead
of Germany in continental Europe in sewerage was more or less lost. However, the German
Wirtschaftswunder triggered a fresh start in the 1970s.

Figure 1. Engberdings first Combined-Sewer-Overflow Tank. Off-line arrangement


with clarifier overflow. The facility went into operation 1913.

The new European Water Policy

Until about the year 2000, each European country looked for national solutions for river
pollution control separately. An exception is the region of Lake Constance. The lake is Ger-
manys most important fresh water resource and supplies more than 10 million people. The
Rhine is the stream feeding Lake Constance, see also Figure 2. In the 1970s, the lake showed
an alarming increase in phosphorous concentrations, Michelbach et al (1999). The three sur-
rounding nations/countries Germany, Switzerland and Austria founded the International
Commission for the Protection of Lake Constance and set up the first mutual guideline for the
design of combined sewer overflow tanks in 1973. Together with improved wastewater treat-
ment plants and the prohibition of phosphorous in detergents it took about 10 years to stop the
increase in concentration at 80 g/l. Today we are back to the level of the 1960s, with less
than 20 g/l, and we hear complaints from fishermen similar to the situation at the Great
Lakes in the USA and Canada of reduced fish stocks due to a decrease in Lake productivity.
Since 2000 a new framework in the field of water policy of the European Community
(EC), is in force: directive 2000/60/EC (2000). There are remarkable parallelisms to the US-
Clean-Water-Act, but 28 years later! Water is declared to be not a commercial product like
any other but, rather, a heritage which must be protected, defended and treated as such. Here
are some quotes from the directive 2000/60/EC:
Member States should aim to achieve the objective of at least good water status by de-
fining and implementing the necessary measures within integrated programs, taking
into account existing Community requirements. Where good water status already ex-
ists, it should be maintained ( 26, intro).
With regard to pollution prevention and control, community water policy should be
based on a combined approach (emission plus source control) using control of pollu-

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tion at source through setting of emission limit values and of environmental standards
( 40 intro).
Pollution through the discharge, emission or loss of priority hazardous substances
must cease or be phased out ( 43 intro).
The objective of the plan is to get to similar levels of water protection all over Europe. The
EC-directive is in force in 12 European states since October 2000. Action plans set fixed and
rigid deadlines for all members. The programmes of measures shall be established latest in
the year 2009 and all measures shall be operational latest 2012. The programmes of measures
shall be reviewed, and if necessary updated, latest 2015 (quotes from article 11, 7 and 8
directive 2000/60/EC (2000)).
Looking at the figures for some selected European nations, see Table 1, it is obvious,
that the numbers are not homogenous at all. Exact sewer figures are hard to get, even under
the new EC-administration, so some of them are my private estimates. Figures for connection
grades are worse in Southern and Eastern Europe and somewhat under discretion. The data for
the USA are added, but for me as a European, some question marks are remaining, too.
The larger average density of the population in Europe is obvious in comparison with
the USA. The density in Europe is 4 to 10 times higher then in the USA. This very different
scenario should be always taken into account, when comparing figures or policies from both
sides of the Atlantic!
One parallelism, that is often not realized, can be seen in the British and German fig-
ures in table 1. Is that the late effect of the traditional preference of British sewer design phi-
losophy in Germany?

Table 1. Statistical sewer figures from selected states in Europe in comparison with the
USA

comparison
Great Brit-
Denmark
Germany
Belgium

USA for
Country

Nether-
France

lands
ain

Total area in 1000 km2 31 357 43 544 244 41 9,363


Population in million people 10 82 5 58 58 41 281
Averaged density of population 325 230 121 106 237 371 30
in heads/km2
Connection to public sewers in 60 93 94 80 98 92 70a
% of population
Connection to public owned 20 91 92 77 82 88 70a
WWTP in % of population
Connection to combined sew- 70 63 47 75 70 85 15
erage in % of population
a. About 30% of the U.S. population in rural areas is served by septic systems, not connected
to WWTPs.

The EC-water framework sets a totally new and demanding water scenario for Europe, which
will affect nearly all urban drainage systems within the next 20 years - or even longer. The
powerful lever will be source control, and the main sources of urban drainage are the storm
outlets from separate systems, the CSOs from combined systems and all treatment works.

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There are doubts and critiques and wonderful new ideas from all parties involved. New candi-
dates from Eastern Europe are knocking at the doors of the EC, not quite realizing yet which
requirements they would have to fulfil one good day. On the other hand, some European
states are still ignoring the chance for a mutual approach to the global water problem. Thats
Europe!
The technical standardization in the field of urban collecting systems is just beginning.
In 1995, the first European standard Drain and sewers outside buildings was released; see
EN 752-1 (1995). The most important performance requirement, which brought most city
councils in Europe into new problems, is the setting of a minimum basement flooding risk in
publicly owned collecting systems in EN 752-2 (1996). The minimum return frequency for
design storms is one in 2 to 5 years for residential areas, and one in 10 years for underground
traffic structures. This corresponds to an acceptable return period for basement flooding from
10 to 50 years. These limits were adopted by 18 European nations now. However, this so-
called drainage comfort is not assured, neither in the entire country of Germany, nor in the
other countries. The traditional English design storm used in Germany in the past 150 years
was a 15 minute storm with a return frequency of once per year.
Another strict regulation is to be found in EN 752-4 (1997). At CSOs, floatables and
un-aesthetic pollutants have to be retained by scum boards, screens and other measures. This
is a quite new demand and it will take decades to fulfil it.

German Water Legislation with Regard to Urban Drainage

The legal principle is that European right will overlay the existing national right step be step.
Germany is a regular member of the EC and will respect the directive 2000/60/EC (2000) in
the future. The Federal Republic of Germany is politically organized in a way similar to the
USA one good result of World War II. The federal government sets only the general out-
lines for the water policy. The actual federal water legislation in Germany is based mainly on
two policies: The Abwasserverordnung AbwV (Waste Water Act), AbwV (2001) and the
Abwasserabgabengesetz - AbwAG (Waste water emission fees), AbwAG (2001).
Any outlet from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), each Combined Sewer Over-
flow (CSO) and CSO-tank in combined systems, each storm outlet from a separate system
and any major industrial or private water outlet to public receiving waters in Germany tradi-
tionally needs a state-permit by water law. The conditions to get that permit are within the
sovereignty of the water authorities of the 16 German Federal Countries and differ slightly,
but cannot be lower than the federal minimum requirements. There is not enough space in this
paper to quote all of the German states water regulations. The reality is, that for historical and
political reasons, thousands of non-registered or non-permitted emergency outlets exist. The
unexpected political reunification of Germany in 1990 brought a lot of confusion into the
German water administration. It will take a generation of engineers to fill up the omissions of
the former GDR (German Democratic Republic, East Germany).
Due to the sovereignty of the Federal Countries in water affairs, a strong federal or-
ganization, like the US-EPA (US-Environmental Protection Agency), does not really exist in
Germany.
The design and construction of new CSOs is subsidized from the Federal Countries in
various manners. The city or community has to present a proper design of any proposed new
or rehabilitated sewage structure. The water authority will check the design according to
existing legislation in the State and to technical standards. If everything is in due order, the
state will subsidize the investment in environmental protection with subsidies from 20 to 80
%. This scheme provides opportunities for very clever communities! This subsidizing
procedure is informally called the golden rain.

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Today, the average water consumption in Germany is 130 litres per capita and day.
Every household has a water meter. The average water supply fee is 2 , the sewer fee is an-
other 2 per m3 water. This is about 0.5 or about 0.5 US$ per day per person to get water
and to get rid of it. This equals the cost of one can of beer from the supermarket per day.

Sewerage Systems in Germany

In combined sewer systems, the domestic sanitary outflow and the runoff from roofs, streets,
parking lots, and industrial sewage (after pre-treatment) are collected together in one single
sewer. Separate systems use two independent pipe systems for sewage and storm water. Sepa-
rate systems have been used frequently in areas where the sewer design gradient is low for
topographical reasons. This is the case along all German coasts to the North Sea and to the
Baltic Sea.

Figure 2. Distribution of separate and combined sewerage systems in Germany in per-


cent of population served

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For more then 150 years there has been a permanent and lively discussion going on in
Germany about the advantages and disadvantages of the separate and combined collecting
systems. The discussion sometimes reaches sometimes excessive and ridiculous stages. The
arguments, such as efficiency, double sewer systems, problems with sewer sediments, costs,
wrong connections, inflow/infiltration, and so on, are the same as discussed worldwide. Ide-
ology dominates, and usually, once the decision for one specific system has been made, there
is no comparison of cost and benefit afterwards.
Since the 1980s, more confusion arose with the introduction of so-called modified
collecting systems. For instance, less polluted roof runoff in residential areas shall be infil-
trated directly on private ground. But even this good idea has unexpected drawbacks. Some of
that water later shows up in the sanitary sewer as inflow; see Brombach, Weiss, Lucas (2002).
Today, the result of the 150 years of discussion and practice can be seen in Figure 2.
In the North, the separate system is dominant with 90 %. In Southern Germany, the combined
system holds a top 90 %. On the average, 63 % of the German population is served by com-
bined systems, Brombach (2002). Ten years earlier, the combined system rate was still at
67 %. The separate system has re-conquered 3 % of all Germans. The Equator of com-
bined sewage has moved about 20 km to the south. When reading German papers on sewer
systems, please be aware from which part of Germany the author comes from! From the low
lands or the high lands?

Figure 3. Typical com-


bined sewage system
with CSO tank

The German Philosophy of Urban Storm Water Management

Since about 1970, the use of CSO tanks has become common practice, starting from the state
Baden-Wuerttemberg (Southwest Germany) where at that time the pollution of the Lake Con-
stance had developed into a severe problem (see above). Today, in Germany around 20,000

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CSO tanks are in operation. Together with the installation of biological treatment plants with
nutrient removal all over the country, river quality has improved dramatically.
Figure 3 shows a typical combined sewage system. To protect the river, the pollutant
loads spilled into it from all sources must be taken into account. During dry weather, all sew-
age is fed to the treatment plant where pollutants are efficiently removed by mechanical and
biological treatment. The effluent is continuously monitored by samplers. Averaged outflow
concentrations from WWTPs in Germany range depending upon the size and type of plant
from 15 to 100 mg/litre chemical oxygen demand (COD). The maximum threshold set by
German water law, AbwV (2001) for COD, is 75 mg/litre for larger plants and 150 mg/litre
for smaller plants. So the limiting margins are typically well met. This is a good result and
treatment plants have surely been a good investment.
During storms, the treatment plant inflow must be limited by flow control devices at
the CSO tanks. The biological treatment processes do not allow for more than about three
times of the calculated peak dry weather flow. Moreover, the final clarifiers must not be sur-
charged.
During storms, much larger volumes of water than during dry weather are entering the
combined sewer system. Pollutants are washed off from the surface into the sewers, sewer
sediments are entrained, which have settled there during the previous dry weather periods.
Combined sewage frequently shows surprisingly high pollutant concentrations up to several
1,000 mg/litre of COD. Sediment remobilisation processes in the sewer may be highly dy-
namic. A so-called first flush, a high concentration peak at the beginning of a storm event, is
probable in some cases, especially in low gradient sewers and small catchments.

The inrushing storm water enters a CSO storage tank. As soon as the inflow gets larger than
the outflow to the treatment plant, the storage volume fills. Smaller storms will be completely
captured by the tank volume; nothing will overflow. Overflow occurs only at medium to lar-
ger storm events. The volumes of the CSO tanks, the flows to the treatment plant and the
volume of overflowing water at a given storm event and thus also overall are in close de-
pendency, see Figure 4.
In short, the German sewer philosophy has the following objectives:
Limit the overflow volume and overflow frequency in the collecting system to an ac-
ceptable minimum.
Protect the waste water treatment plant from overload during wet weather.
This is achieved by the following measures:
The inflow to the treatment plant during dry weather is limited to about 2 to 3 times
the peak dry weather flow by installing effective flow controls in the collecting sys-
tem.
Extra storage volume is to be added to or to be activated in the collecting system.
Source control in the collecting system, minimization of inflow from less polluted
storm water.
Bypassing of wet weather flow or release of sewage between primary and secondary
treatment at the WWTP is prohibited.

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Fig. 4. Idealized
hydrograph of
the inflow to a
CSO tank due to
a typical storm
event. The
spilled com-
bined sewage
volume can be
reduced by us-
ing a larger
storage volume
(B) or by in-
creasing the dis-
charge which is
fed downstream
(C).

Technical Standards for Storm Water Treatment

After World War II, for good reasons, the rehabilitation of German sewer systems focused on
combined systems in large cities first. However, the required technical standards were not set
by the water authorities, but by a non-government-organization, the ATV-DVWK (German
Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste). Similar to the US-WEF (Water Environment
Federation), any consultant, constructor, researcher, sewer department, or plant operator can
apply for membership. Today, the association has about 20,000 members. For the states wa-
ter authorities it is only optional to design to the ATV-DVWK-standards. However, most of
them choose to do so. The standards are continuously updated by ATV-DVWK and adjusted
to the newest available technologies.
There is one standard for design of CSO-tanks that is obligatory throughout Germany:
The required guideline ATV-A 128 (1992) was first introduced in 1977 and updated in 1992.
The basic idea behind A 128 was, to give the system combined sewer plus WWTP (Waste
Water Treatment Plant) the same efficiency in pollutant control as a perfect separate system
plus WWTP. From this concept, a criterion for a required storage volume is derived, assum-
ing mean COD concentrations for all flow components.

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The basic principle of the A 128 standard is shown in Figure 5. The x-axis shows the
specific peak rainwater inflow to the WWTP during wet weather. This specific inflow corre-
sponds to the peak outflow from the last CSO tank upstream of the WWTP. The vertical axis
shows the required specific extra storage volume to be activated or added to the CSO-station.
The mussel-shaped curves represent the long-term overflow volume in % of the effective
storm runoff. Typical solutions are to be found close to 1 litre per second and hectare of storm
run off to the WWTP and a comparatively large CSO tank volume of some 20-30 m3 per hec-
tare of impervious catchment area. This corresponds to 2 to 3 mm of effective rainfall (or 1/10
inch). Forty percent of the long-term average of effective rainfall will escape from the com-
bined system via the overflows of the CSO-tank. The emptying time of the CSO tank should
not exceed 24 hours.
The A 128 cooking recipe can be applied straightforward. It cannot be cited here in
detail for brevity. Moreover, A 128 also recommends the application of modern methods like
numerical quantity-quality simulation. It is essential to know, that ATV-A 128 is a purely
emission-oriented approach. In this procedure, the sensitivity of the river or even the degree
of amenity is not accounted for. Nor are there any requirements included for the allowable
frequency of spills. It is, however, recommended that the requirements should be enhanced.
Some ATV-DVWK commissions are working hard to implement the European Combined
Approach. The latest standard published for modern CSO tank dimensioning is ATV-
DVWK-M 177 (2001).
German storm water treatment standards have led to well-performing solutions. In the
past 25 years, Germanys river quality has improved considerably. The first few salmon have
showed up again in the Rhine after 50 years of absence! However, our standards are not the
cheapest, if compared with other nations. But perhaps the heavy industrialization and dense
population justify the expenses. Since public money is always short, solutions are sought that
are able to lower the costs for control. Latest research has shown that there is a good potential
for optimisation in systems that have about one dozen or more of de-centralized CSO-stations.
Optimisation can be achieved here by fine-tuning of the flow rates and storage capacities; see
Haller and Weiss (2001). These investigations have also shown that some additional rainwater
treatment at the WWTP will give better results than excessive extra storage. Perhaps the Ger-
man decision of the 1970s to limit the wet weather inflow to the treatment plants to 2 to 3
times of the peak dry weather flow was too rigid?

Figure 5. Design diagram


specific storage of CSO-tanks
versus rainfall discharge rate
from ATV-A 128 (1992)

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One irony in the development of standards for storm water management in urban collecting
systems was that the research, legislation and action have been primarily focussed on bad
combined systems. Up to now, no single conclusive standard exists on what to do with the
storm runoff from the separate systems in Germany. New measurements indicate that the run-
off in storm sewers may be not as clean as assumed. This open question seems to be the
next challenge in urban drainage!

Tanks in operation

The latest statistical census from 1998 showed, that Germany had 82,038,000 inhabitants and
10,312 WWTPs in operation. This corresponds to an average of 8,000 people served per
WWTP. This relatively small number indicates the typical German polycentric settlement
pattern. Most parts of the population live in these middle-sized towns.
61,376 outlets from collecting systems and WWTPs hold a permit (see Table 2;
Brombach, 2002). In relation to the population this means, that for approximately every 1,250
people there is one permit. Over the past 25 years, new tanks have been continuously added to
the collecting systems. In 1998, a total number of 31,044 tanks and reservoirs were in opera-
tion. The total storage was 33,143 000 m3, which corresponds to 400 litres storage capacity
per person. With the German water consumption of 130 litres per day, the sewer system could
theoretically hold back the sanitary run off of 3 entire days - if it will not rain!
Table 2 indicates clearly that the vast majority of tanks are within the combined sys-
tems. But the task is not completed yet. Over 20,000 old CSOs still exist and need to be reha-
bilitated. If we continue the way we did up to now, the rehabilitation of CSOs will go on for
another 25 years in other words, we have only completed half of the task.
The costs for adding extra storage varies enormously from case to case. But averaging
from a large number of tanks, a good figure is that about 1,000 are needed to implement
1 m3 of extra storage. Or expressed another way, up to now, for every German citizen about
400 has been invested into the rehabilitation of mostly combined systems. This sums up to a
national total investment of 33 billion .

Table 2. Numbers and volumes of tanks in operation in Germany, census 1998

Number Storm storage


Symbol Type of structure
of units capacity in m3
CSO-tank All types of CSO-tanks in combined systems 20,080 13,104,000
CSO Combined sewer overflows with no signifi- 20,020 0
cant extra storage
RT Retention reservoirs with out overflow in 9,392 18,169,000
combined and separate systems
CTT Clarifier type tanks in storm outlets from 1,572 1,871,000
separate systems
WWTP Waste water treatment plants for combined 10,312 0
and separate systems
Total 61,376 33,143,000

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Examples for design and construction of typical CSO and storm retention structures

Following a former period of very individual planning by consultants, there is now a cata-
logue available that illustrates proven standard designs for various tank sizes and types, ATV-
A 166 (1999) and ATV-DVWK-M 176 (2001). These standard designs should not be simply
copied one for one by the consultants, but should inspire or guide individual designs. Alto-
gether the standard shows 21 different CSO structures varying from 50 m3 to 17,600 m3 of
storage volume and two stormwater retention basins in separate systems. For the sake of brev-
ity, merely a few selected examples can be shown here. Whoever is interested in the full cata-
logue can consult ATV-DVWK-M 176 (2001).

The most frequently applied design and construction standard for a CSO tank is shown in
Figure 6. An oversized pipe made from prefabricated concrete is the only element in the de-
sign to provide the storage volume. The typical diameter is 1.8 to 2.4 metres. With a length of
50 meters of storage pipe plus some volume in the control shaft, the volume totals 170 m3.
Such a small structure is capable of providing the CSO control for a village with 400 to 500
inhabitants. The tank may be arranged under the street, so no extra space is required. At the
lower end, there is a flow control that limits outflow during wet weather to 25 litres per sec-
ond. The storm overflow is situated at the upstream end and simply consists of a fixed weir, 3
meters long. The whole structure has no moving parts at all. It needs no electricity and is self-
cleansing by the continuous flow.

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Figure 6. First flush pipe-type in-line CSO-tank with upstream storm overflow, storage
volume 170 m3, design UFT 2001

Figure 7 shows an open in-line circular tank. The tank empties by gravity. To improve self-
cleansing performance, the tank is fed tangentially. This will result in swirl flow action of the
water body. The tank features a clarifier overflow. This overflow weir is arranged at a posi-
tion that the water body has to perform nearly one full rotation before being discharged. Set-
tleable solids thus are settled in the tank. To support the rotation during emptying of the tank,
two stirring propellers are installed. The wet weather outflow to the WWTP is 36 litres per
second.

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Figure 7. In-line circular CSO-tank with upstream storm overflow and inner clarifier
overflow according to M 176 (2001), storage volume 500 m3 (example M 176 D.1.3.2)

For bigger volumes, rectangular tanks are used frequently. They are usually split into several
parallel lanes to ease cleaning and to secure good sedimentation; see Figure 8. To achieve a
uniform inflow to the tank chambers, a lamella wall is arranged behind the diversion weir.
Research has shown sedimentation efficiencies of up to 80 % of settleable solids. Two scum
boards at the storm and clarifier overflow will retain floatables. The wet weather outflow to
the WWTP is 118 litres per second. Tanks of this off-line design can also be arranged such
that the tank bottom is at a lower level than the incoming sewer. In this case, emptying is done
by a couple of small pumps (not shown here). This allows more compact structures and sav-
ing of footprint area. The energy costs for pumping are negligible.

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Figure 8. Off-line rectangular CSO-tank with clarifier overflow according to M 176
(2001), storage volume 3 000 m3 (example M176 C.1 and C.2)

Research has shown that not only combined sewage is considerably polluted. The runoff from
heavy-duty traffic areas, e.g. motorways, requires stormwater treatment too. For this reason,
all new motorways in Germany are now equipped with storm water detention facilities similar
to Figure 9. The discussion about whether to use wet or dry ponds is still open, but in practice
most structures are of the wet-pond type. The objective of these ponds is to minimize the hy-
draulic stress in receiving waters and, moreover, to retain sediments and oil and petrol in the
case of a traffic accident. So far, however, there is limited experience with these ponds..

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Figure 9. Retention pond for motor way storm runoff, upper part wet, lower part
dry pond version, storage volume 3 000 m3, design UFT 2002

Recent developments in technical CSO tank equipment

Typically, some 10 to 15 % of the construction costs of a CSO tank are spent for mechanical
and electrical equipment necessary for proper and effective operation, such as flow controls,
tank cleaning devices, backflow prevention, flow meters and water level control devices, see
Weiss and Janovsky (2001).
In flow control, there is a trend towards electronic solutions that allow for measuring
of the actual discharge rates. Inductive flow meters are now available that are able to measure
flows even when the pipe is only partially filled. Today, most new CSO tanks have some form
of automatic cleaning device, either tipping flushers pushing out the sludge after the tank has
been emptied, or stirring propellers that mix up the sludge during tank emptying. All these
components are controlled electronically, usually by programmable logical controls (PLC).
Many CSO tanks feature remote controls; the current state of the tank and, alarms, etc. are
displayed on a computer at the treatment plant.

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Rather new products for stormwater tanks are
movable weirs in various designs. Their task
is to allow larger overflow discharges at
smaller variations of the water level in the
CSO tank in order to save construction costs
by a reduced overflow weir length and by
more efficient use of the tank volume. Figure
10 is an example for a self-regulating weir
operated by a spring. Such devices can also be
used for backflow prevention in the case of a
flood in the river.
Another recent development is the
use of sieves or screens to remove gross sol-
Figure 10. Self-regulating movable weir ids from the spilled combined storm water,
for water level control particularly at high-amenity river locations (a
river promenade, for example). This solution
is promoted mainly for aesthetic reasons, e.g.
because of complaints about traces of toilet
paper and other debris on the riverbanks. In-
vestigations have shown that there is also a
small reduction in COD loads, but it is known
that sieves will reduce the pollutant load on
the river only slightly since the major part of
the pollutants is associated with small parti-
cles that pass through the sieve. Up to now,
however, the use of such devices is not de-
manded by any standards. Figure 11 shows a
horizontal fine bar screen at a CSO. It is
cleaned by a sliding rack that is operated by a
Figure 11. Horizontal fine screen for re-
hydraulic piston. The clearance between the
moval of gross solids from overflowing
bars is 4 mm.
water at a CSO-tank, opening width 4
Figure 12 shows a sieve/filter. A large
mm, courtesy of ROMAG, Switzerland
perforated drum that is partially submerged is
located inside the CSO-tank. The perforation
slots have a width of 3 mm. The water enters
the drum from the outside. Within a short
time a filter mattress builds up. When the wa-
ter level is rising due to the increasing
hydraulic resistance of the filter mattress, the
drum is rotated slowly and an over-water
brush clears off the accumulated solids.

Figure 12. Rotating drum sieve at the


overflow of a CSO-tank; sieve opening
width of 3 mm, design UFT

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Figure 13. Pre-fabricated vortex
separator, factory-produced in
polyethylene, lifted into posi-
tion. Ready for operation next
day.

For small communities prefabricated vortex separators made of polyethylene such as in Fig-
ure 13 are a cost-effective CSO-measure (see Weiss, Brombach and Bauer, 1996). The tan-
gentially incoming flow forms a swirling flow. Similar to the teapot effect, settleable solids
are pushed towards the underflow. Floatables will collect in an air cushion under the top plate.
The device is self-cleansing. It may go into operation the next day after installation.

Summary

The paper reflects the European history of urban Storm Water practice with a focus on Ger-
many. One of the oldest CSO-facilities of 1913 is shown. As a result of World War I and II,
the know-how and momentum in sewer technologies was lost in Germany more or less until
the Wirtschaftswunder triggered a fresh start in the 1970s.
The present European Water Policy is described in brief. The directive 2000/60/EC
has remarkable parallels to the US-Clean-Water-Act and sets rigid deadlines. By 2009, all 18
member countries involved shall have established programmes or measures, and all measures
shall be operational at the latest by 2012. This new policy will affect nearly all existing urban
drainage systems in Europe. The sewer situation in Europe is demonstrated with some statisti-
cal figures. The technical standardization in the field of urban collecting systems is still ad-
vancing today. For instance, the basement flooding risk has just recently been legally defined
for 18 European Nations to the same level.
The German Water Legislation and the philosophy behind urban storm management
are reported in brevity. Furthermore, water consumption and costs of water supply and sewer
fees are discussed. A map shows the current distribution of combined and separate drainage
systems in the country. The combined system serves 63 % of the population, but the separate
system re-conquered 3 % of the population in the last 10 years.
The technical standards set by the ATV-DVWK, the German Association for Water,
Wastewater and Waste, are very comprehensive and detailed in regard to urban drainage and
CSO-control. The principle of adding or activating extra storage in the collecting system dur-
ing wet-weather is explained as well as the general design rules. Up to now there are 31,000
CSO-tanks in operation in Germany. They represent a total storage of over 33 billion m3 or
400 litres per German citizen. About another 20,000 old CSOs shall be rehabilitated within
the next 20 years. The public investment into CSO-control in the past 20 years equals about
400 per capita.

17
Some selected layouts of storm water tanks of different sizes are shown in detail and
described in short.
The paper closes with a short discussion of latest technical trends in the instrumenta-
tion of CSOs, such as automatic self-regulating weirs, fine bar screens, drum filters, and vor-
tex separators.

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