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Performance Assessment of Modular Stormwater Treatment Systems for Urban Runoff Management in Medium-sized Ukrainian Cities
Summary
Rainwater running off city streets picks up oil, heavy metals, tiny plastic bits, and other pollutants before flowing into rivers and lakes — the same water bodies many communities rely on. This study looks at compact, modular filter systems that cities with older or limited infrastructure could install to catch these pollutants without needing a full, expensive overhaul of their drainage networks. Cleaner urban runoff means less contamination reaching the water sources connected to our environment and, ultimately, our health.
Abstract Urban stormwater runoff has become a significant environmental engineering concern for medium-sized cities where drainage networks, road infrastructure, land-use transformation, and receiving water bodies interact under conditions of increasing rainfall variability and growing anthropogenic pressure. In many urban areas, conventional stormwater systems were designed mainly to remove excess water from streets and built-up territories as quickly as possible, while the treatment of suspended solids, nutrients, petroleum hydrocarbons, heavy metals, microplastics, and other pollutants received less systematic attention. Medium-sized Ukrainian cities face this problem in a specific context because their drainage infrastructure often combines ageing networks, fragmented maintenance, limited monitoring capacity, variable industrial and transport loads, and insufficient integration of stormwater management with river-basin protection. This article examines the performance assessment of modular stormwater treatment systems intended for urban runoff management in medium-sized Ukrainian cities. The study focuses on the conceptual and practical evaluation of modular units that combine sedimentation, filtration, sorption, flow regulation, and maintenance-accessible design in order to reduce pollutant loads before runoff enters natural or artificial water bodies. Particular attention is given to the relationship between catchment characteristics, rainfall events, hydraulic loading, pollutant composition, seasonal operation, maintenance frequency, and treatment reliability. The article argues that modular stormwater treatment systems should be assessed not only by pollutant removal efficiency under controlled conditions, but also by their adaptability to urban space constraints, resistance to clogging, operational transparency, cost of maintenance, and compatibility with municipal environmental management. The proposed approach is relevant for environmental engineers, municipal authorities, urban planners, water-management specialists, and infrastructure operators seeking practical tools for improving stormwater quality in cities where large-scale reconstruction of drainage systems may be financially or technically difficult.