Research Idea Details

Research Idea Scope

TERI Database Administrator Notes.  Not recommended at present time by 2009 Natural Systems Subcommittee.

Storm water BMP’s are alternatives options to the traditional gutter/culvert approach to treat runoff water. BMP’s help clean up the runoff water before it goes to wastewater treatment plants, rivers, or lakes. There are many types of storm water BMP’s to choose from, and the selection process can be quite complicated. Some of the issues that must be taken into account when selecting storm water BMPs include: drainage area, pollutant removal, groundwater recharge, channel protection, construction costs, public acceptance, maintenance requirements, permeable surface available, etc. Expert systems, or knowledge based systems as they are often known, are computational tool that seek to exploit the specialized skills or information held by of a group of people on specific areas. The major components of an expert system are: a knowledge system, a working storage (such as storm water BMP’s database), an inference engine, and a user interface. They could be very useful to select the type of storm water more appropriated for each specific situation.  

Urgency and Payoff

En expert system would be an excellent tool for design engineers in the process of selecting storm water BMPs. This computational tool would help them not only choose the appropriate BMP from the wide array of options available, it would also help compare the different scenarios that can be presented.