Capacity Assessment of Urban Green Space for Mitigating Combined Sewer Overflows in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area

Abstract

Among the countermeasures against combined sewer overflow (CSO), urban green space (UGS) has been proven effective. However, few studies have examined the effects of UGS on CSO at the municipal scale. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a novel method for estimating the relation of the area of UGS to CSO based on a case study in the Tokyo metropolitan area, which includes 10 sewersheds. This method integrates surface runoff modeling, sewer network analysis, and response analysis for estimating CSO and its response to the UGS proportion in each sewershed. This method is based on public data of topographic features, land-related data, and rainfall characteristics. Specifically, the CSO discharge is estimated to be the difference between the rainwater inflow to a terminal treatment plant and the maximum capacity of the sewer systems in each sewershed. The results revealed that the amount of CSO increases exponentially with the intensity of rainfall. In addition, a response analysis showed that the increase in UGS proportion would mitigate CSO in all sewersheds, particularly in the case where the UGS proportion increased from 5% to 10%. Overall, the present method allows us to estimate CSO in relation to rainfall pattern and the distribution of UGS in a sewershed without actual CSO records.