ISWIM - Innovative stormwater impact mitigation (2023-2028)

The overall aim of this Formas project is to develop innovative, new technologies for area-efficient yet far-reaching treatment of large flows of stormwater from the built environment and stormwater treatment in and near properties for direct use of stormwater in the property.

Background

Urbanization, climate change, and the pollution of seas, lakes, and waterways pose significant challenges to our societies. With increasing intensity of rainfall, our stormwater systems are under pressure. Moreover, stormwater also contains a variety of pollutants, both well-known and many that are of emerging concern. Today, stormwater is usually discharged into receiving waters (lakes, streams and seas) with no or insufficient treatment. This risks seriously affecting the recipients and their ecosystem. In order to reduce the impact, more stormwater needs to be treated while treatment techniques need to be developed to meet both current and future requirements for stormwater quality and resource management. Today, stormwater ponds and wetlands are the dominant treatment technologies. These will also play an important role in the future. However, these facilities take up a lot of space so that it is not possible to build them everywhere, especially not in the built environment. Also, they can’t clean all types of pollutants. Therefore, space-efficient treatment systems are needed that can provide a bigger range of treatment.

At the same time, there is the problem of longer periods of drought, falling groundwater levels and increased competition for drinking water. Taking care of, treating and using rainwater directly on the property provides the double benefit of less drinking water use and reduced flows of stormwater to convey. Thus, the real estate industry is largely interested in the development of innovative products for the use of rainwater.

Project activities

So, new stormwater treatment technologies will be tested within this project, both for larger flows (released to recipients) in Värpinge wetland in Lund and stormwater treatment in close vicinity to Sege Park in Malmö. A Design Sprint methodology will be used as a creative and strategic process to produce prototypes that not only meet challenges, related to stricter technical emission requirements but are also related to practical usability, economics, space constraint requirements and public acceptance of physical design and a general understanding of how higher stormwater treatment costs should be accepted and financed. The selected technology is being built in pilot scale at the test sites in Lund and Malmö where it will be operated for at least two years. The results are then evaluated and shared with researchers, officials, operating staff and suppliers with the aim of conducting a dialogue about which aspects are important for the tested technologies to be developed into useful products. In parallel with the physical tests, a social science analysis is carried out of the knowledge and driving forces of decision-makers in society and other important actors, such as property owners and citizens, with the aim to develop methods to make the technical solutions acceptable and desirable from a community and urban planning perspective.

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Project partners and funding

The project is financed by Formas Blå Innovation – implementation project and runs during the period Dec 2023 – Nov 2028.

The project is a multidisciplinary collaboration led by VA SYD, participating parties are Sweden Water Research, MittSverige Vatten och Avfall, Luleå miljöresurs, Luleå University of Technology, Lund University and Malmö University.