Factors affecting the hydraulic performance of infiltration based SUDS in clay

The influence of small scale soil heterogeneity on the hydraulic performance of infiltration based sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) was studied using field data from a clayey glacial till and groundwater simulations with the integrated surface water and groundwater model HydroGeoSphere. Simulations of homogeneous soil blocks with hydraulic properties ranging from sand to clay showed that infiltration capacities vary greatly for the different soil types observed in glacial till. The inclusion of heterogeneities dramatically increased infiltration volume by a factor of 22 for a soil with structural changes above and below the CaCO3 boundary. Infiltration increased further by 8% if tectonic fractures were included and by another 61% if earthworm burrows were added. Comparison of HydroGeoSphere infiltration hydrographs with a simple soakaway model (Roldin et al., 2012) showed similar results for homogeneous soils but indicated that exclusion of small scale soil physical features may greatly underestimate hydraulic performance of infiltration based SUDS.