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Game of Floods - Wastewater Plant
Part 1: Read Your Assigned Role
Select your assigned role from the list below. Click the link to read the background information. Write out answers to the discussion questions, and submit them to your teacher.
Wastewate Plant Part 2
Part 2: Potential Flood Threats & Flood Adaptation Strategies
Assignment: Read the potential flood threats and flood adaptation strategies for the Wastewater Plant below. Discuss the pros and cons of each flood adaptation strategy within your group. Make sure to consider cost. In your notebook, rank the Flood Adaptation options from the chart below in order from best to worst, and provide a rationale. Submit your rankings and rationale to your teacher.
The wastewater plant was built years ago on former marsh land and is still surrounded by a remnant of marsh. It is very vulnerable to floods. It was renovated just eight years ago, but the pumps and the generator are not elevated to protect against a 100 year flood.
What happens when a wastewater treatment plant floods?
Like Norwich and many other towns, Resilient has a combined sewer system. This means that stormwater from storm drains goes into the same system of pipes as sewage. When a big storm hits, even if the plant itself doesn't flood, too much water can overwhelm the system. Some of the sewage will still go through the plant, but the excess is released into the environment (right). It can also back up into streets through storm drains.
The situation is even worse if the plant itself floods, because electrical systems like pumps can stop working. If that happens, the plant stops working completely, and the sewage is sent out into the environment without any treatment at all. This can lead to serious health problems.
(Above) Flooded wastewater plant after a hurricane
(Above) Sewage discharge into Dublin Bay after a sewage plant failure
Sewage can make people sick and damage the environment
(Above) Under normal conditions, a combined sewer system distributes all sewage to a treatment plant. Heavy rainfall can cause overflows, sending some untreated sewage into nearby waterways. Credit: EPA.
(Left) Sewage bubbles up through a manhole into a residential street in NJ after superstorm Sandy
Once you have submitted your rankings and rationale to your
teacher, you are ready to join the Town Council!
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