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Wastewater

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United Utilities (UU) partnered with Optimatics to develop a Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS) Optimization process for flood reduction using the Optimizer platform. They used Optimizer to identify the best overall combination of SuDS, conveyance, and storage strategies to solve flooding problems for a wide range of potential scenarios. UU sought to understand the optimal solution between full flooding resolution and partial flooding resolution for a 10-, 20-, and 30-year event, testing SuDS cost sensitivities to measure the impact of a sustainable investment.

United Utilities (UU), the United Kingdom’s largest water company, serves a population of more than 7 million people in northwest England.

Key Points

  • Determine if SuDS plays a significant role in optimal flood reduction solutions

  • Explore a wide range of “what ff” scenarios & cost sensitivity tests

  • Develop repeatable & defensible decision-making process for other catchments

Project Scope

UU used its subscription to Optimizer for InfoWorks ICM to address flooding issues in the Bury catchment. Optimizer was directly integrated with InfoWorks ICM, allowing UU to import their models directly into Optimizer, saving time and generating the most accurate optimization possible.

Prior to partnering with Optimatics, UU had performed an initial investigation into potential solutions, including opportunities for SuDS strategies. They wanted to resolve the flooding issues in the most cost-effective way possible and determine the best combination of SuDS, conveyance, and storage strategies.

Map of infrastructure improvements

The optimization analyzed two separate objectives:

  • 1

    Project costs

  • 2

    Hydraulic performance (flooding, freeboard, CSOs, basin outflow)

The project team used SuDS Studio opportunity-mapping data to inform the potential locations, sizes, and strategies to consider in the optimization. These options were combined with the high-level SuDS planning ideas the UU team generated in their initial investigation, resulting in a wide range of potential SuDS opportunities being available for selection in the optimization.

Scenerios

UU used Optimizer to easily address a wide range of potential scenarios, such as:

  • Understanding the impacts of different solution strategies (conveyance, storage, SuDS).
  • Comparing different target levels of protection (10-, 20-, and 30-year events).
  • Making an informed decision whether to focus on the most pressing flooding locations or resolve all flooding locations at once.
  • Understanding the impact of potential utility conflicts and constructability challenges.
  • Reduce SuDS cost uncertainties related to over- or underestimating costs.

Outcomes

Optimizer identified the best combinations of traditional and SuDS strategies to resolve flooding within the catchment. For this catchment, the most cost-effective solutions were primarily conveyance and storage-based improvements, however, Optimizer also identified a handful of high-performing SuDS strategies to supplement the traditional infrastructure upgrades and align with UU’s desire to invest sustainably.

The project also helped UU develop an easily-automated process they could apply to other areas moving forward. The project team was able to build a standardized, repeatable process for:

  • Assessing existing system performance

  • Automating formulation build

  • Optimization scenario analysis

  • Results processing & visualization

Optimizer provided a transparent and defensible decision-making process UU could use to justify both traditional and SuDS infrastructure decisions to internal and external stakeholders.

Graph showing SuDS implementation, flooding solutions, and large SuDs
Graph of 10, 20, & 30-Year Optimizations | Cost vs. Hydraulic Performance Penalties

Optimizer also identified solutions that resolved flooding for significantly less cost than UU initially anticipated. Perhaps most importantly, Optimizer showed that it can help remove bias toward traditional or SuDS solutions and fairly consider all potential strategies in an impartial and defensible way, allowing UU to make the best possible planning decisions.

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