Ecological Rainwater Management in Urban Areas. Preliminary Considerations for the City of Corinth, Greece

Ecological rainwater management methods in urban areas can contribute to: 1) reduction of total rain water runoff and of its peak, 2) storage of rainwater, in order to cover low quality water demand, such as park irrigation, 3) local aquifer replenishment, 4) reduction of property damage and activity disruption, which is due to insufficient sewer networks, 5) improvement of rain runoff quality through pollutant retention, filtration, decomposition, plant uptake, etc. 6) mitigation of pollution of runoff receiving water bodies and 7) upgrading of urban and suburban landscape. In this paper emphasis is placed on rain gardens. Their main features are outlined, criteria for selection of construction sites (such as rain water collection efficiency, landscape improvement and cost) are discussed and certain suitable public or municipal sites in the city of Corinth, Greece, are briefly described. Examples include a degraded street area, a traffic island, a school area, preexisting flower beds, a suburban railway station and abandoned railway tracks.