United States
Environmental Protection Agency
 Office of Water (4203)
Washington, DC  20460
EPA-841-B-00-005C
     October 2000
Street Storage for

Combined  Sewer Surcharge

Control
Skokie and Wilmette, Illinois

   Introduction

   This case study describes the use of street storage
   and catch basin modifications to reduce the rate of
   runoff entering combined sewer systems (CSSs).
   These modifications help alleviate residential
   basement flooding that results from CSS
   surcharging during rainfall events. Because
   building relief sewers would be both expensive
   and disruptive, the communities of Skokie and
   Wilmette, Illinois, were willing to try alternative
   approaches.  The communities decided to modify
   street cross sections and storm drain inlets so the
   street surfaces could store and convey runoff
   during peak storm events and reduce hydraulic
   loading to the combined sewer.  This process
   required extensive coordination with regional,
   state, and local officials and residents to ensure
   that safety and community acceptance concerns
   were satisfied.

   Project Area
   The street surface storage projects were conducted
   in the towns of Skokie and Wilmette, Illinois,
   suburbs of Chicago. The entire 8.6 square miles
   of Skokie and a 2-square-mile section of Wilmette
             Key Concepts:
             >  Street Storage
             >  Flow Regulation
             >  Street & Inlet Modifications
             >  Source Control
       LOW-IMPACT
      DEVELOPMENT
        CENTER
    Figure 1.  Runoff temporarily stored on a street
    surface.
             Project Benefits:

             >  Elimination of Surcharge
             >  Community Acceptance
             >  Cost Savings


           are urban areas served by a CSS.  Skokie has
           approximately 23,000 households (65 percent of
           which occupy single-family homes) and Wilmette
           has approximately 9,000.

           Project Description

           To alleviate system surcharging, a strategy that
           combined the following elements was used:

              -  Street storage

              -  Downspout disconnection

              -  Flow regulators

              -  Subsurface storage

              -  New storm and combined sewer systems

              -  Improvements to existing storm and
                 combined sewer systems


           The goal of the project was to take full advantage
           of the street and inlet system for stormwater
           control as an alternative to installing expensive
           underground facilities such as complex
           configurations of storage vaults with flow
           regulators or additional pipes for increased storm
           drainage capacity.

           The alternative street storage approach was based
           primarily on installing a system of street berms 7
           to 9 inches high at the curb line that detain water
           on the street surface. Figure lisa photograph
           that shows this technique.  In addition, installing
           flow regulation devices at catch basin outlets
           reduced the rate of storm water flow to the CSS so
           both the inlet structure and the street can be used

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          Berm Overflow
                                            Street Storage
                                            of Stormwater
                                                                           Longitudinal
                                                                           Street Profile
         Controlled
         Discharge to
         Combined   ^
         Sewer System
                                                         Catch Basin
                                        Flow Regulator
   Figure 2. Schematic diagram of the street storage system (Note:  not to scale and great vertical exaggeration).
  for storage.  Figure 2 illustrates this concept.
  Subsurface storage facilities were installed in the
  street right-of-way and in other public areas as
  part of the storm drainage system at critical points
  in the system and in high-traffic areas, parking
  areas, and pedestrian walkways where ponding
  was not acceptable. Overall, street storage
  accounts for over half of the total stormwater
  storage capacity.  The other half is accounted for
  in subsurface and off-street storage.

  Project Summary and  Benefits
  Many benefits were realized from this project.
  First, researchers estimate a cost  advantage from
  using street storage over conventional sewer
  separation systems to alleviate CSS surcharges.
  Figure 3 shows the estimated costs for the Skokie
  system to be approximately 38 percent of the
  costs for conventional approaches to sewer
  separation.  A breakdown of costs associated with
  the street storage approach reveals that berm/flow
  regulator installation is a small fraction of the
  overall project cost, as shown in Figure 4. The
  street storage system could aid in traffic control
  because the berms function much like speed
  humps as traffic calming structures. Also, the
  storage system reduces the frequency and volume
  of combined sewer overflows, resulting in fewer
  storm water-related pollutant events in receiving
  waters.  Since the system's installation in  1983,
   250
           Sewer Separation
                                Source Control
Figure 3.  Cost comparison between the traditional
sewer separation approach and a source control
approach  using street surface storage.
     80

     70

     60

  |  50
  i  40
                                                      10
                   DBerms/Flow Regulators
                   D Sewers
                   D Supplemental Storage
Figure 4. Costs associated with the CSS surcharge relief
project.

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consisting of 2,900 flow regulators, the Skokie
Public Works Department has not reported any
problems with icing of ponded areas during winter
weather because the water typically remains on
the street surface for less than 30 minutes.

Several lessons were learned as a result of this
project. First, researchers emphasized the
importance of using a comprehensive approach to
stormwater management that explores funding
and cooperation from different sources, including
streetscaping and revitalization programs.
Second, early and frequent stakeholder
involvement and strong outreach and education
programs that clearly identify the benefits of street
storage were necessary to gain support for the
project from citizens.  Finally, a comprehensive
inspection and maintenance program with training
for public works staff was essential to ensure that
street storage systems functioned as designed.

References
USEPA.  2000.  Street Storage System for Control
of Combined Sewer Surcharge.  EP A/600/R-
00/065. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Washington, DC.
Walesh, S., andR. Carr.  1999. Street Surface
Storage for Control of Combined Sewer
Surcharge.  In WRPMD '99: Preparing for the
21st Century, ed. M.E. Wilson. Proceedings of
the 26th Annual Water Resources Planning and
Management Conference, Tempe, Arizona, June
6-9, 1999.

Contact  Information

Stuart G. Walesh, PE
Consultant
3006 Towne Commons Drive
Valparaiso, IN 46385-2979
Phone: (219)464-1704
Fax: (219)464-2978
stuwalesh@aol.com

Robert Can-
Senior Water Resources Engineer
Earth Tech
1020 North Broadway, Suite 400
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Phone: (414)225-5135
Fax: (414)225-5111
bob_carr@earthtech. com

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