Abstract
Urbanization creates pressure on the environment as there is a need to provide services and resources close to the consumer for convenience. Water distribution and drainage are factors to be considered in urban areas for the population’s safety. Houses are built close to each other, and the population is significant; therefore, caution must be taken so that the quality of life is not affected. Apart from households, urban areas have several industries that utilize a lot of water and subsequently drain a lot of contaminated and, in some instances, hazardous. If the water is allowed to flow in the surrounding, then it spoils even the soil degrading it, resulting in desertification. Desertification is soil degradation as a result of climatic change and human activities (Sarbu,2021). The actions in urban areas are a risk to the ground, and therefore it is vital to ensure that good designs are put in place.
Introduction
An increase in population growth, change in climatic conditions, and population growth pushes the need for water and countries put up measures of availing safe water to their population and at the same time drain the wastewater. People have also changed their lifestyles due to economic growth and Urbanization, calling the government to move in the same direction, even installing and implementing water supply systems. According to Sarbu (2021), Urbanization and population growth also come with the pressure of ensuring space is conserved to meet the needs of the people; therefore, the systems that are put up have to consider the two factors, which at times results in designs that cause land degradation.
Water is a natural resource that collects in various places, constituting lakes, rivers, streams, and dams. Urbanization pushes water sourcing in every way possible to meet demands; some of the urban water cycles consist of elements such as dams, water filtration firms, pumping stations, reservoirs, pipes, wastewater treatment plants, recycling firms, stormwater drains and desalination plants. Putting up the elements implies changing the environment to accommodate the needs. The changes to the environment affect the expected behaviour and create space deforestation takes place, which affects the climatic conditions such as rain, which is essential for the provision of water. Additionally, the requirements become harsh with more extended periods of dry weather, causing water scarcity and affecting the average moisture of soils. Also, water-related ecological problems result from climatic change coupled with increasing Urbanization, including buildings, streets, sidewalks, and parking lots that cause sealing of the surfaces. With this Urbanization, stormwater runs off streams with little or no ecosystem preservation.
The need to conserve water for future use to avert scarcity is a human activity contributing to desertification. Guidelines on how to source water or drain water have also been twisted to meet demand, such as digging boreholes where they are drilled close to each other, causing their drying up fast. In places where houses are built next to each other, drainages are not well done and therefore, some of the water flow through the surfaces. This does not affect the soil, but also it is a danger to the health of individuals with cases of illnesses.
Gutter and inlet design
There must be sufficient drainage on the road to decrease dangers resulting from stormwater runoff and optimize traffic efficiency in various weather conditions. Therefore the primary purpose of the inlet is to lower the spread of water across a roadway and in the gutter. The channel alongside the road in which stormwater runoff passes through to the storm sewer inlet is the gutter. This design is paramount to know the runoff volume and estimate pollutant mass. One of the key challenges is that changes in rain depth relatively affect the contributions of runoff and discharges of mass pollutants ( Kim, Kwak, & Jo 2021). Therefore if directly connected to impervious areas, it contributes most of the flows even in small rains. Still, during more enormous rains, they disturb urban soils contribute to most of the flows. While designing the gutter and inlet design, certain factors are put into consideration, but small and intermediate-sized rains are not put into consideration when investigating water quality problems. Subsequently, the rains contribute to runoffs that affect the soils as it carries along with it other waste in the urban areas contributing to soil degradation.
The gutter inlet design has both pros and cons, and some of its disadvantages are that it contributes to erosion, reduced water recharge, water-quality degradation and downstream flooding. These affect the everyday activities of people while at the same time increasing pollution in urban areas by trapping sediments and reducing flow velocity on the drainage paths. People are influenced as their everyday activities are interfered with, especially if such pollution results in illness. Frequent hospital expenses affect their economic status and their work input. Pollution also contributes to water scarcity, where people are not able to get safe water for use and are therefore forced to dig in more from their pockets to buy water from other places.
Wastewater design is also one that urban areas utilize to drain water in one place, particularly a plant for treatment. For convenience, urban areas are connected with water, whereby they are brought close to the consumer as far as their own homes. Water consumption for all-purpose purposes can be done in one house, and the waste, if not well designed, can cause dangers to the environment. Where there is a poor connection of the drainage water or damages to the sewer, the water flows along the roads carrying all the impurities and dirt in the urban areas(Zhang, & Huisingh, 2018). The results are soil degradation where the soil is sealed, preventing water absorptions and soil erosion. If the water flow is heavy, then a large amount of ground is carried far away from its source.
Additionally, the hazardous wastewater may flow to other areas such as lakes, rivers, or even wells. If it is contaminated, it will be a danger to aquatic animals and plants. Moreover, the waste in these waters affects the natural cause of water, thereby contributing to the drying up of the rivers.
The wastewater design directs water to a treatment plant, and consideration for the plant location is governed by several factors, including the site’s susceptibility to flooding to prevent any flooding, general arrangement of the treatment plant, and future expansion. Scarcity of land in urban areas may pose a danger to these considerations, especially future development. Therefore, with substandard designs, the wastewater flowing through the city cannot be guaranteed. Cases of cries of people complaining of pollution have been recorded in various parts, and one of the notable changes is the drying up of plants (Zhang, & Huisingh, 2018). Therefore it is right to conclude that the water from such areas affects the soil composition contributing to desertification. The soil degradation affects the growth of trees, which are vital for rainfall, and therefore, the climatic conditions change with long seasons of dry weather.
Further, the wastewater design where water is the by-product of many activities is directed to a treatment plant for treatment may be a risk to the environment. There are some instances where the treatment plant fails to make the water treated safe for the environment. Crucial to note is that the treated water is allowed back to the environment. If complete treatment fails, then the water becomes a risk not only to people but to the ground, which may contribute to desertification. A reason that may cause incomplete treatment is wastewater volume and the pollution level. In urban areas, the population grows drastically, and the economic activities in terms of industries or factories increase. Therefore the volume that flows to the treatment plant is not the same, resulting in poor treatment. If the partially treated water is allowed back to the environment, it destroys the natural habitats that are vital in the natural course of the domain.
Litter and sediments traps
These are devices made so that they can trap sediments that are coarse and are gross pollutants to the environment. Some of the benefits are that they act as pre-treatment for piped water in wetland pipe systems. They help in preventing blockage to pipes ensuring free flow of water. Conclusion: there are suitable for urban areas where litter generation is high, and the need for water flow is also high ( Nguyen, Ngo & Guo et al., 2019). This design affects the normal flow of water, whether in cases where there would be scarcity due to blockage. Therefore people in urban areas can enjoy a free flow of water that would otherwise not reach them because of too much litter. Installing of the traps is determined by the garbage in an area, drainage pathway determination and the consideration of whether to be placed at the beginning or end of the pathway.
Application
Urban designs are very crucial as they focus on how people use and perceive the environment. If well designed, then people take care of the environment, but when poorly designed, then the opposite happens. Since the architects understand the areas they serve, they help determine what can be built in an area. Failure to comply with guidelines results in confusion to the environment affecting the flow of natural resources and makeup which makes it suffer. The elements of urban designs include buildings, spaces, landscapes, streets and transport, while the principles to be considered are; ease of movement, sustainability, adaptability, character, continuity and enclosure, legibility and quality of the public realm.
Therefore it is essential to consult the services of the architects before setting up anything, especially in the urban areas. The architects help an individual develop a plan that would be used to ensure that the facility or building set up would have a free flow of water without causing pollution to the environment. Apart from addressing the issue of water, ease of movement in terms of roads would be addressed. Since they understand the building to set up in an area such as schools, hospitals or even police stations, they can shed light on what kind of industry would affect the peace of a place.
Urban designs also play a role in planning the economic activities of an area. Some industries are not to be close to households, and therefore the strategies help ensure this is followed. An organized locality is consequently put in place where the residents or the users are comfortable and can access resources easily. Architectural designs help determine how a business would interact for functional requirements. Apart from the physical structure, the architectural designs help decide what software’s to be used or machines to use for specific processes. In the case of water treatment, they determine based on the quality of water in the area and the purpose of the water.
Conclusion
The number of buildings in one also determines what design to use and how they are built. A factor such as flats or bungalows are made the drainage system to be put because of the variations in water use and pressure. The same also applies to the connection of clean water to the houses. Water quality also determines the designs to use because some seas require treatment or desalination before use. Therefore, it is crucial to decide how it would be achieved. Urban water design also applies in areas where there are industries, factories and hospitals in areas so that to determine how the water emitted from the places should be drained to the treatment plant. Additionally, it is vital to decide on the treatment process to ensure safe water for the environment.
The services of architects when one decides to put any building are crucial and cannot be understated. Most of the water drainage experienced in urban areas is as result of poor planning and failing to follow laid out designs. It is essential to consider the well-being of others in the neighbourhood for a healthy relationship. Further, it assists in preventing future problems especially when it comes to water availability and free flow.
References
Kim, J. S., Kwak, C. J., & Jo, J. B. (2021). An enhanced method for estimation of flow intercepted by drainage grate inlets on roads. Journal of Environmental Management, 279, 111546.
Nguyen, T. T., Ngo, H. H., Guo, W., Wang, X. C., Ren, N., Li, G., … & Liang, H. (2019). Implementation of a specific urban water management-Sponge City. Science of the Total Environment, 652, 147-162.
Sarbu, I. (2021). Optimization of Urban Water Distribution Networks Using Deterministic and Heuristic Techniques: Comprehensive Review. Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice, 12(4), 03121001.
Zhang, Z., & Huisingh, D. (2018). Combating desertification in China: Monitoring, control, management and revegetation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 182, 765-775.
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