Global perspectives on groundwater infiltration to sewer networks: A threat to urban sustainability

Abstract

While existing studies on sewer networks have explored topics such as surface water inflow, limited research has delved into groundwater infiltration (GWI). This study aims to fill this void by providing a comprehensive overview of quantitative analyses of GWI in sewer networks plus current status, limitations and future perspectives, considering the most relevant peer-reviewed research, including 83 studies. We propose dividing the existing research into two main groups: (1) phreatic zone, and (2) vadose zone. Most research has focused on the latter, mainly considering Rainfall-Derived Inflow and Infiltration (RDII), including surface water inflow and GWI. The ratio of each is not frequently separated; otherwise, there may be some assumptions, e.g. in dry weather and assuming zero surface water inflow. We also divided the employed approaches in different categories from physically-based numerical models, to simpler ones, e.g. water budget analysis. In fact, a combination of approaches may be applied to find the intricate characteristics of 'urban groundwater' or 'urban karst.' The findings revealed a heightened vulnerability of sewer networks to GWI, due to climate change (CC) and its associated repercussions, e.g. sea level rise (SLR), making the coastal cities the most vulnerable regions. In future research, the criticality of pre-emptive measures and monitoring of networks, especially near the coastline, is emphasised to ensure the resilience and adaptability of sewer networks in the context of GWI amid the potential impacts of CC. However, current monitoring practices lack widespread evidence for spatiotemporal analysis of GWI quantity.