page_title: Water-sensitive urban design
section_title: Sedimentation basins
hierarchical_section_title: Water-sensitive urban design / Common WSUD practices / Public open space / Sedimentation basins
caption_attribution_description: English: View of a sediment basin installed on a construction site
context_page_description: Water-sensitive urban design is a land planning and engineering design approach which integrates the urban water cycle, including stormwater, groundwater and wastewater management and water supply, into urban design to minimise environmental degradation and improve aesthetic and recreational appeal. WSUD is a term used in the Middle East and Australia and is similar to low-impact development, a term used in the United States; and Sustainable Drainage System, a term used in the United Kingdom.
context_section_description: Sedimentation basins (otherwise known as sediment basins) are used to remove (by settling) coarse to medium-sized sediments and to regulate water flows and are often the first element in a WSUD treatment system. They operate through temporary stormwater retention and reduction of flow velocities to promote settling of sediments out of the water column. They are important as a pretreatment to ensure downstream elements are not overloaded or smothered with coarse sediments. Sedimentation basins can take various forms and can be used as permanent systems integrated into an urban design or temporary measures to control sediment discharge during construction activities. They are often designed as an inlet pond to a bioretention basin or constructed wetland.
  Sedimentation basins are generally most effective at removing coarser sediments (125 μm and larger) and are typically designed to remove 70 to 90% of such sediments. They can be designed to drain during periods without rainfall and then fill during runoff events or to have a permanent pool. In flow events greater than their designed discharge, a secondary spillway directs water to a bypass channel or conveyance system, preventing the resuspension of sediments previously trapped in the basin.
caption: Sediment basin installed on a construction site.
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