Evaluation of performance of Active, Beautiful and Clean (ABC) on stormwater runoff management using MIKE URBAN: a case study in a residential estate in Singapore

ABSTRACT

Singapore has adopted a low impact development equivalent of stormwater management philosophy under a national program called ‘Active, Beautiful and Clean’ (ABC) employing soft-engineering techniques to manage rainfall runoff in the face of climate change and rapid urbanisation. This study makes use of the MIKE URBAN modelling tool to evaluate the performance of ABC units in a new residential precinct based on flow data collected. Calibration results show an overall good fit between the measured data and simulated results based on three goodness-of-fit stats. The runoff factors computed for scenarios with and without the presence of ABC units show an improvement in the range of 21–72%. This study demonstrates the usefulness of using a calibrated model to evaluate the performance of constructed units using measurements. It is recommended that this modelling tool be also used for evaluating water quality performance of the units as well as applying it for use in the planning and implementation process.

KEYWORDS:

• Active
• Beautiful and Clean (ABC)
• low impact development (LID)
• MIKE URBAN

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express special thanks to the Public Utilities Board (PUB), Singapore for the sharing of insights to the construction of the ABC in addition to the measurement data. Finally, many thanks to colleagues in DHI Singapore and all those in government agencies who have helped in one way or another.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.