Assessment of gully pot management strategies for runoff quality control using a dynamic model

A gully pot is the first entry point of road runoff into an urban drainage network. Pots are extensively used to trap solids from runoff in order to avoid/minimise the problems associated with sediment deposition in the downstream drainage structures or receiving waters. Here we briefly describe the different modules of a dynamic gully pot model developed to assess the impact of a series of management practice scenarios on the quality of runoff discharged through the pots. Runoff quality was modelled in terms of suspended solids (SS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved oxygen (DO) and ammonium. The model has the flexibility to represent the impact of various interactions between physical and biochemical processes occurring in a pot during wet and dry weather conditions, respectively. The simulation results show that the pots are effective at retaining solids, but their role with regard to reduction of dissolved pollutants is almost neutral. Model predictions, as against common perception, show that frequent pot cleaning does not significantly improve the runoff quality. However, considerably improved solid retention is possible if larger pots with modified geometry are introduced into the drainage system.