Interurba '92

The problems of water pollution and urban drainage have in the past been considered in a fragmentary manner, with the components of the urban stormwater and wastewater systems - sewerage, storage, treatment plants, receiving waters - treated as separate systems and by different groups of specialists. However, it has become increasingly clear that an optimum outcome will be best achieved by a single integrated approach to the whole urban water environment. The synthesis of such an approach was the aim of the Interurba '92 Workshop. Four authoritative reviews were prepared of our knowledge of urban drainage systems, wastewater treatment plants, impacts on receiving water quality, and the institutional aspects of urban water management. The reviews then were the basis for intensive discussion, leading to a consensus on the best way forward for integrated management of sewers, treatment plants and receiving water ecosystems. This book contains a summary paper of the conclusions of the workshop, the four original invited reviews which set out our knowledge of the elements of the urban water environment, and 15 selected poster papers. It is the collective expertize of ecologists, chemists, hydrologists, civil, sanitary and environmental engineers, mathematical modellers and managers - and it aims to set a benchmark for best practice in urban water management.