In the media: How to reduce the effects of dirty snow in nature

New method tested in Luleå when clearing snow • Heavy metals in the snow can damage animals and sea life, features on TV4.

How to absorb water masses after heavy rainfall?

Climate change has made cloud-bursts with subsequent floods more common. Researchers at Luleå University of Technology are now investigating whether it is possible to find new ways to capture large amounts of water by placing materials that absorb stormwater in cities.

The use of normalization to better understand trends in the concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage

Frida Isaksson has now finished her research project as part of her degree in Natural Resource Engineering at Luleå University of Technology (LTU). Her study aimed to increase knowledge on factors that affect the concentrations of non-infectious SARS-CoV-2 RNA fragments in sewage and to show the imp...

Lic. seminar with Haoyu Wei, Urban Water Engineering
24 May. 2022 13:00 – 15:00 , E231 and on-line:

Evaluating the transport and compositions of gully pot sediments – Under changing anthropogenic activities and rainfall regimes

Transport and composition of sediment in gully pots

Haoyu Wei will present his licentiate thesis "Evaluating the transport and composition of sediments in gully pots – under varying anthropogenic activities and precipitation regimes" on May 20 at Luleå University of Technology. Discussion leader is Damien Tedoldi from Insa Lyon, France.

What does stormwater and snow in our cities contain – pollutants, their sources and pathways
25 Mar. 2022 12:30 – 13:15 :

Pollutants are released from melting urban snow

What's hidden in the snow? Pollutants like microplastics, zinc, copper and lead, according to analyses.
– It is often the most polluted snow that is cleared from heavily trafficked roads. Awareness needs to increase about the fact that when you remove snow, then you also remove pollutants, says He...

Registration for Stormwater course online 22-24 February, 2022 is open

It is high time to register for the Stormwater course taking place in February 2022. Due to the pandemic, the course is given online.

In this course you will learn about stormwater in urban areas focusing on sustainable and modern stormwater management including blue-green infrastructure.

Metal and microplastic treatment in stormwater bioretention

On December 10, 2021, Katharina Lange defended her PhD in Urban Water Engineering at Luleå University of Technology presenting her thesis "Metals and microplastic treatment in stormwater bioretention". Bioretention cells are increasingly being used for stormwater treatment. The overall aim of the do...

Storage procedures and associated changes in stormwater quality

Stormwater sample collection and their subsequent dispatch for analyses may be delayed due to issues such as the remoteness of sampling sites, duration of transportation, limited local laboratory facilities and sometimes – duration of laboratory experiments. Such delays provide an opportunity for ch...

Urban Water Engineering annual seminar for students and professionals

On February 24, it is time for the annual urban water seminar at Luleå University of Technology. This year's theme is Stormwater. The seminar and Industry Day are arranged in collaboration with the research center of excellence Stormwater&Sewers at Luleå University of Technology and the national wat...

DRIZZLE testsite i Luleå

Luleå is one of the test sites within DRIZZLE and recently two pilot plants for stormwater management in cold climates were built.

Annelie Hedström has been installed as a professor

On 13 November 2021, Annelie Hedström was installed as professor and on the World Toilet Day on 19 November, Annelie gave her installation lecture "How do our water and sewage systems need to be developed to meet the demands of the future?" at Vetenskapens hus in Luleå. It was also broadcasted onlin...

Bold presence of 15 researchers from LTU in ICUD 2021

The International Conference on Urban Drainage (ICUD) was held 24th – 28th of October, 2021. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the event was delivered on an online platform from Melbourne, Australia. Researchers and executives worldwide came together and presented their live or pre-recorded presentation...

In the media: New legislation makes it more difficult for urban water researchers

Research in the urban water area may be affected by this summer's changes in the Swedish Aliens Act. The concern is great among foreign doctoral students. At the same time, there are some opportunities.

New Vinnova project SECURE granted

"SECURE - StormwatEr planning for inCreased Urban REsilience" is the latest project approved by Vinnova within the "Climate adaptation in the built environment" call. It is a 2-year research project carried out in collaboration with Tyréns, StormTac, Stockholm Water and Waste, the Swedish Transport...

Ico Broekhuizen employed after his dissertation

After defending his dissertation in Urban Water Engineering at Luleå University of Technology in spring 2021, Ico Broekhuizen continues working with the Urban Water research group bringing in his competence within stormwater modeling.

Two new projects on stormwater management in development districts and from railway infrastructure

Two new projects, both related to stormwater management in built-up areas, have recently been granted by Vinnova and the Swedish Transport Administration, respectively.

Nordiwa 2021 online

This year, the annual NORDIWA conference was held on-line from 28 September to 1 October. A total of 200 presentations, five workshops and a digital exhibition were arranged in five parallel sessions. Optionally, the recorded lectures could also be watched afterwards. The speakers ranged from resear...

New SVU report about purification of microplastics in stormwater

Comparison of methods for the identification of sources of pollutants in stormwater

Various pollutants have been found in stormwater and the composition of stormwater varies with different kinds of runoff. An important part of source control and mitigation of risks for the receiving waters is the knowledge of the sources contributing pollutants to runoff.

Prevent flooding with good stormwater management

The Stormwater Day is celebrated on September 24 every year to draw attention to the fact that rain and melted snow that flows on our streets is a valuable resource. If not handled properly, stormwater can cause costly flooding. With this summer's major floods in Gävle, Dalarna and Central Europe in...

Godecke Blecken promoted professor

Godecke Blecken has been promoted professor of Urban Water Engineering at Luleå University of Technology.

Celebrating Stormwater Day: a systematic review of urban stormwater research in Sweden 2012-2021
24 Sep. 2021 12:00 – 12:45 , Zoom:

Celebrating Stormwater Day on September 24, we are arranging a digital lunch seminar open to everyone.

In the media: Plastic waste is expected to increase sharply in the world

Katharina Lange, Urban Water Engineering, in the news from TV4 about the microplastic problem.

Master’s thesis on sorption of stormwater pollutants for different material mixtures

Fredrik Rydholm has completed his master's studies in Natural Resource Engineering with a specialization in Environment and Water at Luleå University of Technology

Student thesis project about urban stormwater ponds

Felix Karlsson, who has studied Natural Resources Engineering with a specialization in Environment and Water, has recently published his student thesis project ”Urban stormwater ponds: Evaluation of heavy metals and organic pollutants in stormwater and stormwater sediments”

New project in spatial planning for sustainable transformation

After earlier this year having been granted funding within the Formas call “Planning for sustainable transformation” in a first step, Stormwater&Sewers has now in collaboration with Östersund Municipality and VA SYD been granted funding for the project “Achieving sustainable and multifunctional stor...

In the media: Go from gray asphalt to blue-green yards

Build more greenery and open collections of stormwater instead of gray asphalt, thus reducing the risk of floods and pollution discharges in our residential areas. In addition, a greener and more pleasant living environment is created.

What impact does a gross pollutant trap have on the treatment in a stormwater biofilter?

Sofia Fahlbeck Carlsson, who has studied the master's program Natural Resource Technology with specialization in environment and water, has now published her thesis "Evaluation of a gross pollutant trap biofilter stormwater treatment train: The role of calcium carbonate, vegetation and pre-treatment...

In the media: Storm water is purified from microplastics with plants

Researchers at Luleå University of Technology, together with IVL Swedish Environmental Institute, have investigated how efficient a stormwater treatment plant is at cleaning microplastics from one of the country's busiest car roads.

Effective reduction of microplastics in highway runoff

Large amounts of rubber, asphalt and other types of microplastics and micro-debris accompany the stormwater runoff from the high-traffic E4 at the Sundsvallsbron high bridge. In a unique study, researchers at Luleå University of Technology together with IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, ...

Course: Sampling and Measurements in Urban Water Engineering

Water Research School open PhD course on stormwater sampling

Are you interested in stormwater sampling and measurements and want to learn more about it and deepen your knowledge? Then look out for the course in this subject given by Luleå University of Technology within the framework of the natio...

Ivan Milovanovic presented his licentiate thesis

Ivan Milovanovic presented his licentiate thesis titled “Components for area-efficient stormwater treatment systems” on 17th of June, 2021, at Luleå University of Technology. The discussion leader was Jovan Despotovic, professor in hydrology and hydraulic engineering at the University of Belgrade, S...

In the media: Garbage study shows how plastic erodes

In a study from Luleå University of Technology, researchers have compared how quickly different types of plastic debris decompose into microplastics. The results may cause more people to take the detour via the trash.

Now begins a series of DRIZZLE seminars

Starting on 21 April 2021, “DRIZZLE - center for stormwater management” is organizing a series of online lunch seminars, where results from DRIZZLE's ongoing work will be presented to those interested in the partnership.

Ico Broekhuizen defended his doctoral thesis

On April 8, 2021, Ico Broekhuizen defended his doctoral thesis "Hydrological modelling of green urban drainage systems: Advancing the understanding and management of uncertainties in data, model structure and objective functions".

Pulsatile flow may increase performance of ultrafiltration

Treatment of stormwater with a pulsatile liquid flow on ultrafiltration membranes may improve purification properties.

Field work in winter? Absolutely!

Within Stormwater&Sewers, field work is carried out all year round, even wintertime. This winter, snow sampling was carried out for three different projects within Stormwater&Sewers.

Water Europe's policy white paper on emerging pollutants

The recent EU Water legislation fitness check concluded that, whilst key legislation such as the EU Water Framework Directive and Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive are having a positive impact on the ecological status of water bodies across the EU, further actions are required in relation to the ...

DRIZZLE reinforced with new project administrator

In the beginning of 2021, Betty Christakopoulou became part of the DRIZZLE team within the Urban Water Engineering group at LTU. She works as project administrator and website coordinator.

Kelsey Flanagan will be an Associate Senior Lecturer

After more than a year of work as a post-doctor in Urban Water Engineering within the framework of DRIZZLE - Centre for Stormwater Management, Kelsey Flanagan has now been hired as an Associate Senior Lecturer.

New post-doc with a focus on stormwater quality

Mehwish Taneez joined the Urban Water Research Group in December 2020 as Postdoctoral fellow in Urban Water Engineering, within the framework of DRIZZLE - Centre for Stormwater Management. She will be working on sources of stormwater pollution, quantification of emissions and risk assessment.

Property-related stormwater management and industry standard for prefabricated stormwater facilities

Stormwater&Sewers researchers from RISE and Luleå University of Technology have participated in a recently finished Vinnova-funded test bed project on stormwater management in close vicinity to built property and industry standards for assessment of prefabricated stormwater facilities.

ICUD2020 goes digital with a webinar series for young researchers

When the international stormwater conference ICUD2020 had to be postponed to May 2021 because of the pandemic, a series of webinars was organized instead.

Swedish Water Research and Innovation days 2020

The Swedish Water annual Research and Innovation Conference was held on 8-9 December 2020. During the conference organized as a webinar due to the current situation, Swedish Water, the research funders and the four research clusters Stormwater&Sewers, DRICKS, VA-kluster Mälardalen and VA-teknik Södr...

Characterization of dissolved metals in stormwater

Metals in stormwater occur in many chemical forms that affect the mobility and transport of the metals in the stormwater system and what environmental impact the metals will have in the recipient.

Enhancement of stormwater quality in grass swales

Snežana Gavrić will present her licentiate thesis “Enhancement of stormwater quality in grass swales: Removal and immobilisation of metals” on December 17, 2020 at Luleå University of Technology. The discussion leader is Magnus Bäckström from Swedish Water.

Built in risks in blue green infrastructure

Together with Ohio State University, Luleå University of Technology has performed a major international field study of sustainable blue and green infrastructure and “built-in risks” in urban storm water management.

Pollutants in urban snow

Snow and snowmelt are sources of surface water pollution, which can deteriorate the surface water quality. The major sources of pollutants in urban snow are traffic, atmospheric deposition, de-icing salt and anti-skidding materials and urban littering. The pollutants of interest in snow and snowmelt...

Degradation of macroplastics to microplastics upon exposure to sunlight

Jonathan Svedin who studied the master's engineering program Natural Resources Engineering with specialization on Environment and Water at Luleå University of Technology has now completed his master's degree. He has conducted a laboratory study investigating the extent to which different types of pl...

Erik Karlsson new Chairman of DRIZZLE Board

During the board meeting on August 24, Erik Karlsson was elected new chairman of the DRIZZLE board. He takes over after Pär Weihed, pro vice chancellor at Luleå University of Technology.

DRIZZLE's Annual General Meeting 2020

DRIZZLE's General Meeting took place on August 24 this year - digitally due to covid-19. The day began with a short presentation of parts of the field studies conducted within DRIZZLE. Thereafter, the new DRIZZLE doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows and professors introduced themselves to the par...

Sensitivity analysis of pluvial flood modelling tools for dense urban areas

Johanna Eriksson has now finalised her masters’ thesis work. She has carried out a project related to flood modelling at the Department of Sustainable Waste and Water in the City of Gothenburg.

Ivan Mantilla latest DRIZZLE addition

In June 2020, Ivan Mantilla joined DRIZZLE as PhD student.

Interpolation of probing data for groundwater modelling

Frida Agerberg who has studied the master´s programme Natural Resource Engineering specializing in environment and water recently published her master’s thesis “Data interpolation for groundwater modelling - How choice of interpolation method and sample size affect the modelling results” that she ha...

Better understanding of the varying prestanda of metal treatment in bioretention

On June 3, 2020, Katharina Lange presented her licentiate thesis entitled "Total and dissolved metal treatment in stormwater bioretention". The seminar took place at Luleå University of Technology (LTU) with Danielle Dagenais from the University of Montreal, Canada as discussion leader and Maria Vik...

Swedish Water Award for best master's thesis

Emelie Hedlund Nilsson, former student at Luleå University of Technology Master Programme in Natural Resources Engineering, wins the Swedish Water Award for best master's thesis in urban water engineering. The winner is awarded SEK 25,000.

Workshop - Snow dumps

For many municipalities in Sweden, large decentralized snow dumps for storing urban snow are an important part of their snow management in winter. However, the large snow dumps cause an enormous transport of snow every year. Also, meltwater from snow dumps contains similar pollutants as stormwater a...

Multifunctional surfaces for rain and snow

Can integrated snow and stormwater systems in urban environments, multifunctional areas, be a way to avoid large snow deposits and polluted melt water?

New research method improves understanding of metal treatment and environmental impact of stormwater

PhD student Katharina Lange tested a new method to investigate the metal treatment performance of stormwater bioretention systems.

Newly appointed PhD student

The Urban Water research group was strengthened with Nikita Razguliaev as a PhD

New PhD at Urban Water Engineering

Ali Beryani was employed as PhD student in Urban Water Engineering at Luleå University of Technology in March 2020. His research focuses on sustainable stormwater management and treatment using bioretention systems.

A new postdoc

Kalpana Gopinath strengthens the research group at Urban Water Engineering at Luleå University of Technology as a post-doc since February 2020.

Advanced stormwater treatment in focus for new PhD student

Saida Kaykhaii started her PhD studies in February 2020. Her main field of research is advanced stormwater treatment focusing on membrane technology.

Pollution of Stormwater Pond Sediments

A detailed screening found 92 organic pollutants and 7 trace metals in stormwater sediments.

In the media: Green roofs in northern Sweden

An article by Joel Lönnqvist, Godecke Blecken and Maria Viklander, VA technology at Luleå University of Technology.

What role do gully pots play in sustainable urban drainage?

Our cities and receiving water priorities have changed and so should also our perception of gully pots. As our cities evolve to achieve sustainability, we need to gain a better understanding of the performance and impacts of gully pots to ensure their role within wider sustainable drainage strategie...

Microplastics course in Oulu/Finland

In the beginning of December, the PhD students Katharina Lange and Brenda Vidal, Luleå University of Technology, participated in a course about microplastics

Sustainability assessment of urban drainage solutions

Pär Öhrn Sagrelius, industrial PhD student at Tyréns within the DRIZZLE project, evaluates sustainability aspects of stormwater systems in various case studies.

Tone Merete Muthanna, Associate Visiting Professor at Urban Water Engineering

Tone Merete Muthanna has started a position as Associate Visiting Professor at the research group Urban Water Engineering at LTU. Tone comes from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. She has a wide background in stormwater management and urban water systems. She sp...

Research projects highlighted as good examples in government initiative

Smart City Sweden is a government initiative aimed at increasing exports of, and investments in, smart city solutions.

Building surface materials as sources of stormwater pollution

Stormwater is an important transport pathway for pollutants in the urban environment and contributes to the deterioration of urban receiving water quality. Metallic building surfaces and atmospheric deposition, as well as activities related to transportation, industries and construction, are among t...

Licentiate seminar Alexandra Müller - Urban Water Engineering

On November 15, 2019, Alexandra Müller presented her licentiate thesis entitled "Urban surfaces as sources of stormwater pollution: An evaluation of substances released from building envelopes" (in Swedish: "Urban surfaces as sources of stormwater pollution: An evaluation of the contribution of subs...

Blue-green water systems

On October 25, Ico Broekhuizen, Urban Water Engineering and Stormwater&Sewers participated in the dissertation of Salar Haghighatafshar's doctoral thesis “Blue-green stormwater systems for citywide flood mitigation – Monitoring, conceptualization, modeling, and evaluation” at Lund University.

Seminar on stormwater

Havremagasinet art hall focuses on microplastics

On October 3, Heléne Österlund was invited to the county art gallery in Norrbotten, Havremagasinet in Boden, ti give a speach on the theme "Microplastics from city to sea". This was in connection with the artist Mattias Käll giving a lecture on the project "Packaged" and the artwork "The Legacy".

New position paper on “Prioritisation of Emerging Contaminants in Urban Wastewater”

The EU’s directive on Urban Waste Water Treatment has been open for public consultation, for the commission to assess whether a revision of the directive is needed or not.

DRIZZLE's General Assembly Meeting 2019

This year's DRIZZLE Annual General Assembly meeting took place at the end of August in Stockholm with the DRIZZLE member Tyréns hosting the event. During the days, some of the researchers and PhD students associated with DRIZZLE presented news from their ongoing research.

New PhD student in DRIZZLE

Lisa Öborn was hired on August 26, through a collaboration between Stockholm City and LTU, as a municipal PhD in Urban Water Engineering within DRIZZLE.

New Post Doc

Kelsey Flanagan joined the Urban Water group at LTU on August 12 as a Post Doc, as a part of DRIZZLE – Centre for Stormwater Management.

New PhD student at DRIZZLE

On June 17, Emelie Hedlund Nilsson started as a PhD at DRIZZLE, through a collaboration between Luleå municipality and LTU.

Great interest in Almedalen for stormwater as a resource

During this year's Almedalen week, DRIZZLE participated in the seminar "Stormwater as a resource". The seminar was organized by LTU, NCC and Tyréns.

DRIZZLE at Almedalsveckan

Come and participate in the seminar "Stormwater is a resource!" that DRIZZLE is part of during Almedalsveckan!

Time: Tuesday, July 2 at 11.45 - 13.15
Location: Arena City Development Days, Trappgränd (between St Hansgatan and Mellangatan, Visby)

Cities, rain and risk, Malmö 13-14 juni

The international conference CITIES, RAIN AND RISK on urban flooding management in cities was held in Malmö on June 13-14 2019.

"Svampen" takes care of large stormwater volumes

How can large amounts of stormwater be taken care of in built-up areas where there is lack of space? This is a question that researchers in the DRIZZLE competence center want to answer in a project with the work name "Svampen".

Design and environmental impact of biofilter

Laila Søberg defended her doctoral thesis entitled "Bioretention for stormwater quality treatment: Effects of design features and ambient conditions” the 29th May 2019 at Luleå University of Technology. Opponent was David McCarthy from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.

Denmark's Swedish Ambassador visited LTU

Ove Ullerup, Denmark's Swedish ambassador, visited Luleå University of Technology (LTU) on May 21 to discuss cooperation opportunities between the university and Denmark. Lena Goldkuhl, VA technology, was invited to talk about "City planning of sustainable cities".

Master's thesis publication on drinking water treatment

Emelie Hedlund Nilsson completed her studies in Natural Resource Technology at Luleå University of Technology before the summer with a master's project in drinking water treatment; "Biological separation of iron and manganese in groundwater works: A study in Klöverträsk with regard to treatment peri...

Improved stormwater quality using grass swales

With increasing urbanization, there will be more of hardened surfaces, such as roads, parking places and roofs. Hard surfaces cause higher levels of pollutants to storm water, higher flow rates and higher volumes. Urbanization thus affects both the quantity of water and the quality of the stormwater...

Chemical precipitation of stormwater

On April 26, 2019, Fredrik Nyström presented his licentiate thesis "Coagulation Process Characteristics and Pollutant Removal from Urban Runoff" at a seminar with Michael Cimbritz, senior lecturer at Lund University, as discussion leader. In the paper, a chemical precipitation process has been inves...

In the media: Stormwater hero of the year 2019 awarded at Water Conference

For the first time in the Water Wastewater Circle conference's history, a prize was distributed to this year's stormwater hero. This year's award winner is Godecke Blecken, assistant professor at Luleå University of Technology.

New industy-employed PhD student

The March 18, Robert Furén, through a collaboration between NCC and LTU, started as an industry-employed PhD student at DRIZZLE.

Workshop on Riddarfjärden bay

On March 12, 2019, a workshop on stormwater solutions for the Riddarfjärden bay and its surroundings in Stockholm was arranged. The organizers of the workshop were Tyréns in collaboration with the City of Stockholm and DRIZZLE.

New Post Doc

Jiechen Wu has started working as a post doc at the Urban Water group at LTU from the 1:th of March. He will mainly be connected to projects in DRIZZLE.

New PhD student for Urban Water Engineering

In February 2019, Haoyu Wei was employed as PhD student in Urban Water Engineering at LTU. His research will be connected to projects in DRIZZLE.

Investigates microplastics in our cities

Helene Österlund, a researcher in Urban Water Engineering at Luleå University of Technology, has been commissioned to investigate how microplastics are transported and dispersed in our city centers, stormwater systems and via busy roads. The result will show what actions will be most effective to st...

Stormwater biofilter - four field plants soon installed

Implementation of stormwater biofilters / plant beds is increasing rapidly in Sweden. Nevertheless, there is no knowledge of the function of biofilters in Swedish conditions, such as how their function is affected by cold climates.

Hydraulic modeling of sedimentation grids

Urban stormwater carries large amounts of large and small particles, which are seen as a significant burden on the recipient, especially as the particles can also be carriers of other pollutants. Particle sedimentation in stormwater ponds is one of the most common methods for removing suspended part...

Industrial PhD student from Tyréns

On October 1, 2018, Pär Öhrn Sagrelius began as an Industrial PhD student in DRIZZLE, through a collaboration between Tyréns and Luleå University of Technology. He holds an MSc in Environmental Engineering at Lund University.

DRIZZLE's Annual General Meeting 2018

On 28-29 August, DRIZZLE's General Meeting held room. About 35 people from DRIZZLE's partner organizations gathered at Luleå University of Technology to, among other things, to negotiate ongoing and planned joint research projects. The day started with a presentation round, as there were some new pa...

DRIZZLE-kickoff

On 15-16 January, a kickoff took place with all DRIZZLE’s partners. More than fifty participants from 10 different organizations met lunch-to-lunch in Stockholm, to get to know each other, to get a common view of what to do together, and to start the joint work in DRIZZLE.

In the media: Want to see requirements for purified stormwater

"They are necessary in order to put this issue on the table, so that everyone gets the same possibilities and basis for his work and that there is no need of dedicated enthusiats in the water departments to drive this issue", says Maria Viklander, Professor in Urban Water Engineering at Luleå Univer...

110 million SEK for sustainable stormwater solutions

Luleå University of Technology receives one of Sweden's eight new centers of excellence for world-class research in areas of importance for the country. At the new center DRIZZLE, the university’s researchers will collaborate with companies and municipalities to develop groundbreaking stormwater sol...

Published:22 February 2021
Updated: 22 February 2021
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