REVIEW ON URBAN STORM WATER DRAINAGE SYTEM PERFORMANCE IN

ETHIOPIA
Dr. Bisrat Gissila1, Doup Rew2
1
Assistant professor (PhD), Civil Engineering Department, Arbaminch Institute of Technology,
Arbaminch University, Ethiopia

E-mail; [email protected]

2
Doup Rew (M.Sc.), Water Supply and Environmental Engineering Faculty, Arba Minch Water
Technology Institute, Arba Minch University, Ethiopia
E-mail: [email protected]
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The term "urban drainage system" refers to the surface and subsurface removal of waste water
from the land of urban settlement. Many practitioners say that the term "urban" applies primarily
to cities; to make more comprehensive to both urban and rural sustainable water management
approaches, the word should be dropped in favor of "Sustainable Drainage System”. The main
objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive review of the existing research evidence on
storm water drainage system performance in Ethiopia

The scope this study is limited to sixteen journal article that are relevant to urban storm water
drainage system published from 2015 to 2021GC. Researched articles were discriminated based
on thematic area, finding, title and year of publications. For successful completions of the review,
the study was broken down into three steps: planning phase, conduction phase, and documentation
phase. No picture, table and equation are considered.

The reviews find that no drainage is working properly due to lack feeling to personal ownership
on all stakeholders. Stakeholder analysis and community engagement should be carried out to
improve urban storm water drainage and Green infra-structure should be implemented as
replacement of conventional drainage system.

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1 INTRODUCTION
The term "urban drainage system" refers to the surface and subsurface system for removing water
from the land of urban settlement, which includes, but is not limited to, both natural elements such
as streams, marshes, swales, and ponds, whether intermittent or continuous, and manmade
elements such as culverts, ditches, channels, and detention facilities. It can be basically classified
as conventional and sustainable drainage systems

Conventional drainage systems (pipe based approaches) are the traditional method of transporting
wastewater and storm water to treatment plants, either by the same or by separate pipes. Access
flow during peak storm is diverted from the sewage system by Combined Sewer Overflows
(CSO). This method, on the other hand, is appropriate for metropolitan regions with the resources
to build, run, and maintain such systems, as well as offer necessary treatment to avoid pollution at
the discharge end at a reasonable installation costs and the release of storm water without
treatment.

Surface water management approach that mimics natural processes of attenuation, infiltration, and
evapotranspiration based on a sequence of management practices and control structures are called
sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS). These systems are designed to drain surface water
efficiently and sustainably away from community settled areas. Many practitioners say that the
term "urban" applies primarily to cities; hence the term "sustainable urban drainage system" is
commonly misunderstood. They suggest that the word should be dropped in favor of "Sustainable
Drainage System," which is the correct phrase that would be more comprehensive, to account
both urban and rural sustainable water management approaches (Ghani et al., 2016).

Control and management of surface run-off near the source is now widely encouraged, and it is
seen in many nations as an acceptable set of strategies that facilitate natural processes while
limiting hydrologic consequences. Such solutions focus on local water runoff treatment, retention,
re-use, infiltration, and conveyance in metropolitan areas, and hence more in line with a
sustainable development program. Green roofs have been used to boost interception, storm water
storage, and evaporation in metropolitan regions where green infrastructure is limited.

Keywords: Conventional drainage, Ethiopia, Storm water drainage, Sustainable drainage systems

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The Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) has introduced several
design manuals, demonstration projects, and associated guidance manuals for Sustainable
Drainage Systems (SDS) in the United Kingdom, as well as similar best practices guidance
manuals from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Environment
Agency (EA) in England and Wales.

Low Impact Development (LID) provides local and state officials, the private sector, and others
with new economically and ecologically sustainable options to effectively solve nonpoint
pollution, wet weather flow regulation concerns for the preservation of our receiving waterways.
LID has sparked a new conversation, opened up new study fields, supplied new management
tools, and made us question a lot of things.

Water sensitive urban design (WSUD) was initially brought to Australia and advocated for the
integration of storm water management into urban planning and design. The idea lays the
groundwork for a comprehensive approach to storm water management that employs strategies
that can provide a wide range of positive results at both the regional and local levels. In Australia,
there are a variety of best management methods for storm water quantity and quality control that
are employed in metropolitan areas.

1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE REVIEW

The main objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive review of the existing research
evidence on storm water drainage system performance in Ethiopia. Specifically study seeks:
 To review the basic concept of drainage systems.
 To review the freely available in formation on performances of drainage systems in Ethiopia.
 To conclude the storm water drainage performance status in the Ethiopia.

1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of this study was limited to freely available research journal article that were identified
as relevant to urban storm water drainage system published from 2015 to 2021 Gregorian
calendar. The available articles were discriminated based on their thematic area, finding, title of
the study and year of publications. This study is bounded to any published articles conducted on
behave of storm water drainage performance in Ethiopia’s districts based the above specified
range of published period.

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2. LITERATURE SURVEY
For successful completions of the review, the study was broken down into three steps: planning
phase, conduction phase, and documentation phase. The first phase is all about development of
the review titles; second phase is all about identification and conduction of the review; and the
final phase demonstrates a comprehensive documentation of the review. The following were
identified as relevant research article for this study.

(Warati & Demissie, 2015) was assessed the impact of urban road surface drainage in Ginjo
Guduru Kebele of Jimma Town; Oromia: The major goal was to analyze road surface water
drainage problems and the obstacles of addressing them in Jimma town, namely in Ginjo Guduru
Kebele. Finally, the studies found that the study area's road surface drainage was inadequate due
to an insufficient road profile, a lack of drainage structures, poor maintenance, and a lack of
proper interconnection between the road and drainage infrastructures, resulting in road surfacing
material damage and flooding issues.

(Besha, 2016b) was conducted case study about the challenges of urban drainage system in the
Emerging Towns of Ethiopia: The case study of Assosa Town, Benshangul Gumuze: The major
goal was to look at the availability, coverage, and management of urban drainage infrastructure by
taking physical measurements on drainage channels. The study discovered that current drains are
not adequately maintained, and that any maintenance that is done at random. Another difficulty
for the city administration needs to address feasibility analysis of the town's drainage system.
(Besha, 2016a) point out that Poor integration between road and urban storm water drainage
systems, poor maintenance, illegal sewer connections, a lack of drains, and a lack of a solid road
layout design are among the key causes of street flooding.

(Singh et al., 2016) carried an investigation on urban drainage System in Sululta City; Oromia.
The main goal of the study was to investigate existing drainage coverage and performance using a
field research household survey. According to the findings, common people are suffering owing
to a shortage of drainage facilities. As a result, the Sululta City Administration (SCA) should
support the feasibility study that is initiatives to enhance the drainage system may be identified as
soon as feasible.

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(Adisu & Hailemikael, 2017) were investigated An Approach to Drainage System Sustainability
in Wolaita Soddo Town; SNNP: The following are the study's goals: Assessing the current state of
drainage infrastructure in the town; identifying the major issues with drainage infrastructure
provision; identifying operational and maintenance challenges. According to the research finding,
present drainage system has several flaws and requires immediate repair or reconstruction, as well
as the ongoing maintenance of major drainage works. Drainage systems were not built by
professional individuals, but rather by inexperienced contractors and micro and small businesses.
There is an insufficient and low coverage of drainage systems in the town, as well as bad physical
condition and ineffective drainage system development. The primary issues encountered in the
supply of drainage in the town were a lack of competent manpower, inadequate stakeholder
integration, limited community engagement, financial limits, and lack of drainage network design.

(Bekele & Sahadeva, 2018) were conducted Performance Assessment of Road Drainage Systems
in Burayu Town; Oromia: Their major goal was to evaluate the performance of drainage systems
using exploratory and descriptive research approaches. According to the study, runoffs run over
road surfaces in the several part of the town due to soil erosion, a lack of drainage lines along
peripheral roads in the town, inadequate maintenance of existing drainage facilities, a poor waste
management system, and blocked of drainage channels by silt and garbage. As a result, the road
drainage construction hinders their capacity to adequately carry runoff. Residents dispose of
rubbish in drainage channels, open areas, and rivers/streams because there are no suitable garbage
containers in the town. These issues eventually lead to the closure of a road segment or perhaps
multiple road sections, obstructing traffic flow and significantly impacting road users' mobility in
general and people's socioeconomic well-being in particular.

(Dibaba, 2018) In Jima City; Oromia: study was undertaken on review of sustainable urban
drainage system: traits and consequences. The study' goal was to examine the current drainage
system and identify the primary causes leading to poor drainage performance. According to the
findings, the drainage issue related with urban trash is one of the city's most pressing issues,
generating both physical and sanitation issues. The physical issue is linked to flooding, which
leads to the damage of personal and public property; however, the sanitary issue stems from a lack
of adequate waste management. As a result, the city and its environs should establish an
integrated solid and liquid waste management technique.

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(Adugna et al., 2019) was assessed the hydraulic capacity as well as the storm water management
difficulties of existing drain systems in Addis Ababa. His studies' goal was to use thorough field
surveys and stakeholder interviews to assess the hydraulic capacity of existing drains and storm
water management concerns. Finally study found that, Addis Ababa's storm water management is
strictly traditional, with the only objective of collecting and transporting storm water from sources
to rivers. According to the two case studies he conducted, the system is insufficient to manage
storm water inside the city's boundaries in terms of storm water drain coverage. Despite the fact
that flash flooding is a serious concern in Addis Ababa during the rainy season, an evaluation of
the hydraulic capacity of the existing drains in the case studies revealed that more than 72 percent
of the drains were excessive. This demonstrated that there was a lack of hydraulic and hydrologic
characterization during the construction process.

To enhance sustainable storm water management in reality, Addis Ababa should focus on
connecting nature-based solutions (e.g. GI, LID, LSM, and WSUD) with the traditional piped
system, according to the findings of this study. The difficulty of the conflict between nature and
structural procedures in engineering culture might be addressed as a starting step.

(Zinabie & Kebede, 2020) did hydraulic analysis of storm water drainage system in alamata
Town; south of tigray: the research aim was to analyze the hydraulic performance of the study
area's storm water drainage system. According to the research, the present drainage system has
several flaws and requires immediate repair or reconstruction, as well as the ongoing maintenance
of major drainage works. In the town, there is an insufficient and low coverage of drainage
system, as well as bad physical condition and lack of electiveness in drainage system
development. The majority of the drainage system's capacity is insufficient to accommodate the
current runoff.

(Dagne et al., 2020) carried out the assessment on storm water drainage systems for small urban
watersheds in shambu town; oromia: The major goal of this study was to determine if the extra
storm water runoff was caused by hydrological changes or an inadequate hydraulic design of the
town's current drainage system. Study found that, the existing storm water runoff drainage
services are insufficient to carry the peak or maximum discharge for the return period during
which this peak discharge will occur; due to a lack of knowledge of hydrological or watershed

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models during the drainage system's design, it failed to convey the excessive storm water using
only hydraulic design. Furthermore, the current drainage system was completely clogged by solid
waste materials; as a result, storm water is simply runoff over the ground and on roadways, rather
than flowing into a receiving channel. Due to the geography or nature of the town's position, the
speed of runoff is extremely rapid, with no chance of infiltration into the soil. Finally, this
research found that assessing the storm water runoff drainage system necessitates effective
watershed management, and educating the public about the current drainage system is the state-
of-the-art of the modern manner of keeping the metropolitan region safe.

(Gebreyohannes & Degu, 2020) was assessed the functioning of the drainage system in shire
Endaslasse Town; Tigrai: The research' major goal was to utilize Arc GIS and SWMM5.1 to
assess the effectiveness of the storm water drainage infrastructure in the town. Research found
that, flooding risk is quite significant since the drainage system is not only undersized to cope
with present rainfall rates, but also inadequate to deal with the impending forecasted rainfall. The
major road is a commercial land use type, thus it generates a lot of solid trash near manholes.

(Chali & Zewdie, 2020) In Holeta town; Oromia: a performance evaluation of the drainage system
was carried out. The major goal was to assess the performance of urban drainage systems in the
towns using the storm water management model (SWMM). the study found that there was no
proper drainage system to collect wastes extracted from each household, as a result, solid and
liquid wastes were directly disposed into the storm drainage system, there was a lack of well-
connected drainage network, decreased in the system's efficiency, and drainage systems were not
available in the proper location. Community knowledge of such a problem was low, with even
people who were informed being forced to throw trash into storm drainage systems due to a lack
of waste management strategies to dispose of and manage wastes. The storm drainage system is
insufficient to transport the peak discharge over the required design period, and the drainage
system is in need of repair. Sediment and other garbage products have accumulated.

(Tariku, 2020) was conducted case Study in Ginjo Guduru Kebele of Jimma Town; Oromia. His
major goal was to examine the drainage system's hydraulic performance and assess the current
state of the drainage system. The study discovered that almost all existing drainage structures are
hydraulically insufficient, which means that the proposed design discharge is much greater than

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the existing drainages structure working space (hydraulic capacity). This is due to a lack of
professional involvement (hydraulic engineer, hydrologist), and future projections of the design
structures were not taken into account.

(Tilahun, 2021) carried out a hydraulic performance assessment of storm water drainage systems
in Dejen Town; Amhara: the study was conducted to assess the current drainage performance. The
results of the assessment revealed that, existing storm drainage systems were in poor condition,
and the sewage systems were inadequate to collect wastes generated by each household, with the
majority of drainage systems being severe. This is due to a lack of well-connected drainage
networks, drainage ditch failure and breakage, old drainage infrastructure, high traffic effect, and
the absence of proper drainage. The majority of the drainage structures was open drainage
systems and placed in the right location. As solid and liquid wastes were discharged into storm
drainage systems, they were subject to failure. Another drainage problem was lack of garbage
management strategies to removal and disposal of garbage from each household.

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3 DISCUSSION OF THE FINDING
As community are dumping household solid waste in to the drainage line without permission and
sufficent follow up to pick the waste, the performance of the drainage should be weakned
dramaticaly; as concluded by Warati and Demissie (2015), Singh et al., 2016, Besha, 2016. In
additon, inadequat causes of poor performance on drainage is accomulation of poor workmanship
and government official who are mandate to budget the resources for frequent maintenances to
enriches the drainage performance.

The level to which an individual spends time to engages in communal activities play great
importance role for sustainability of storm water drainage; as refere to Adisu and Hailemikael
(2017), Bekele & Sahadeva(2018), the key causes of poor drainage performance in Wolaita Soddo
Town is “lack of qualified designer insufficient stakeholder integration, restricted community
participation, budgetary constraints, and the absence of a drainage network design”. These factor
are obvoius to damage the drainage channels performance.

The design capacity of the project component should be declining as service lives rais, as Adugna
et al., (2019) were identify poor performance on storm water management approaches caused by
expired design period of the projects components.

To assess the capacity of roadside swales and street gutters, as well as the encroachment of
rainwater into the roadway, hydraulic calculations are used. The design discharge calculated is
based on the peak flow rate. Under estimation of the storm water quantity and hydrometreological
prediction cause the drainage to be unable to manage and convey storm water as per community
expectation; Zinabie & Kebede, (2020), Dagne et al., (2020). Gebreyohannes and Degu (2020)
discover that the flood danger is substantial since the drainage system is inadequate to handle
current rainfall.

For a variety of estimations, the design of rainwater drainage systems necessitates the use of
acceptable and sufficiently precise approaches. The amount of runoff rainwater determines the
size of system components; Urban drainage is designed for safety of the community from advers
flooding, hygienity, and amenity promotion to the invironment. Tariku (2020) identified it as a
lack of expert engagement as well as the failure to consider future predictions of the design
structures causes insufficient hydraulic performance of drainage system.

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The rate at which solid waste heaps are piled up on city main streets is alarming and devastating
Furthermore, drainage systems (particularly in developed countries) are frequently designed
without taking into account solid domestic waste and soil sediments. The significance of these
wastes in the drainage system's operation cannot be overstated, thus they must be taken into
account.Tilahun (2021) indicates the lack of well-connected drainage networks, drainage ditch
failure and fracture, obsolete drainage infrastructure, excessive traffic impact, and improper
drainage. Most drainage structures were open drainage systems that were strategically located.
Storm drainage systems were prone to collapse because solid wastes were poured into them.
Another drainage issue was the lack of waste management systems for each household's rubbish
pickup and disposal. Lack of knowledge to drainage functionality made community to dump solid
waste to in open ditch was added by Chali & Zewdie (2020), Dibaba (2018).

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4 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMANDATION

4.1 CONCLUSION
Reviewed research article claims poor performance of urban drainage infra-structure in different
district of Ethiopia. According their evident, controversial conclusion were definitely stated; some
claims the causes of poor performance is due lack of community awareness on systems, lack of
stake holder integration, lack of qualified designers, lack of follow up (maintenance), lack of
metro hydrological investigation, over service life of the system components, and improper road
geometry and poor construction of the drainage components.

One the basis of personal judgment, the fundamental factors that cause poor performance to any
but not limited to sanitary engineering project is a lack of stakeholder analysis that addresses the
feeling of host community. For example dumping the waste to the drainage channel is due to lack
of personal ownership feeling, improper investigation to the design components is associated with
the lack of personal ownership feeling, poor maintenance is associated with lack of personal
investment that is derived from lack of personal ownership feeling. However, the causes of poor
performance to drainage infra-structures of many district in Ethiopia is due to lack of feeling to
personal responsibility to own the infra-structure.

4.2 RECOMMANDATION
 Stakeholder analysis and community engagement should be carried out before design of
communal projects like urban drainage
 Green infra-structure that manage storm water event from the household level to public
disposal should be introduced to the community.

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Soddo Town: A Case Study from Southern Ethiopia. International Journal of Waste
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Adugna, D., Lemma, B., Jensen, M. B., & Gebrie, G. S. (2019). Evaluating the hydraulic capacity
of existing drain systems and the management challenges of stormwater in Addis Ababa,
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