Title: Rainwater management in sponge cities based on SWMM

Authors: BingYang Ye; Mengran Shi

Addresses: School of Civil Engineering, Baicheng Normal University, Baicheng, 137000, China ' Organization and Personnel Department, Hebei Open University, Shijiazhuang, 050080, China

Abstract: The accelerating and expanding urbanisation has led to a marked increase in water scarcity and flood disasters. The study proposes an urban rainstorm and flood management model in conjunction with the pilot project of sponge cities. The model is designed to calculate and simulate precipitation, runoff, and infiltration. Through the precipitation distribution data and infrastructure planning of sponge city, it was concluded that the frequent occurrence of rainstorms in summer would lead to a rapid increase in urban rainfall. The situation of waterlogging areas and drainage sections would promote the development of waterlogging. Under the design with a recurrence interval of 20 years, the maximum rainfall intensity was 137.02 mm/h, and the average impermeability of the flooded area was 50.73%. After construction planning and drainage system renovation, the infiltration rate in some areas has increased by 30%, and the maximum flow velocity of underground pipelines was 2.83 m/s, with an overall rainwater utilisation rate of up to 93%. The proposed method is feasible and advantageous, providing technical reference for urban rainstorm and flood management, and improving the quality of sponge city planning and construction.

Keywords: sponge city; rainstorm flood management model; waterlogging phenomenon; drainage system; facility construction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJW.2025.151233

International Journal of Water, 2025 Vol.17 No.2, pp.75 - 96

Received: 21 Feb 2025
Accepted: 27 May 2025
Published online: 19 Jan 2026 *

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