Digital upgrade of drainage detention devices for forced retention

Current urban challenges related to local urban flooding require effective preventive measures. This applies particularly to various methods of stormwater retention, including forced retention, and solutions that enable cooperation between small individual retention systems and drainage systems. Therefore, this study presents the results of research on the hydraulic efficiency of controllable systems, which combine the features of an on-site tank with the solutions of network tanks to increase the retention of stormwater in drainage systems. The study had two main objectives: first, to investigate the potential for improving the hydraulic efficiency of retention devices operating within forced retention systems through the implementation of real-time control, and second, to assess the impact of hydraulic parameters characterizing flow in the system on the efficiency of the studied types of devices. The operation of three hydraulic systems in terms of forced retention was verified: a classic linear system, a forced retention system subjected to digitisation through real-time control implementation and a forced retention system devoid of control elements. The study was conducted under laboratory conditions that simulate actual operational conditions. The results demonstrate that a retention system based on real-time control can increase the correct operation time by up to 50%. The efficiency relative to linear objects for the retention system based on real-time control ranged from 50% to 241.67%, whereas a system lacking control elements showed an increase of 66.67%-136.64%. Additionally, this study demonstrated a significant impact of the stormwater fill level in forced retention devices on their hydraulic efficiency. The results indicate the potential to increase the efficiency of various retention solutions through the application of a properly selected and optimised control system.