Introducing leaky-well concept for stormwater quantity control in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh with rapid and unplanned urbanization, is subjected to annual average rainfall of 2,076 mm. The intensity of rainfall during 10 years recurrence interval and 1 h duration of the city is 98 mm/h. The stormwater drainage systems of the city are often unable to manage peak runoff volume and hence urban flooding is common after medium to heavy rainfall events. A proposal to introduce leaky-wells using water sensitive urban design (WSUD) principles was investigated for Dhaka’s drainage network to transfer the present unsatisfactory situation into one which is sustainable. The regime in balance strategy was considered to control the stormwater for 100 years recurrence interval. We applied scaling theory to 57 years (1953–2009) daily rainfall data for the estimation of sub-daily rainfall intensity values. It was found that two leaky-wells; each with depth H = 2.0 m and diameter D = 2.0 m, in 500 m2 allotment can improve the situation. The emptying (drain) time of the proposed device is around 1.25 days, which meets the standard criterion. Groundwater table, soil hydraulic conductivity and topographic slope of Dhaka also support for installations of leaky-wells.