20/12/2016 StormWaterManagementModel(SWMM)|WaterResearch|USEPA

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StormWaterManagementModel(SWMM)

Version5.1.011withLowImpactDevelopment
(LID)Controls
Description
Capabilities
Applications
Support
Downloads
AddinTool
HelpfulResources
Contact

https://www.epa.gov/waterresearch/stormwatermanagementmodelswmm 1/6
20/12/2016 StormWaterManagementModel(SWMM)|WaterResearch|USEPA

Description

EPA'sStormWaterManagementModel(SWMM)isusedthroughouttheworld
forplanning,analysisanddesignrelatedtostormwaterrunoff,combinedand
sanitarysewers,andotherdrainagesystemsinurbanareas.Therearemany
applicationsfordrainagesystemsinnonurbanareasaswell.

SWMMisadynamichydrologyhydraulicwaterqualitysimulationmodel.Itis
usedforsingleeventorlongterm(continuous)simulationofrunoffquantityand
qualityfromprimarilyurbanareas.Therunoffcomponentoperatesonacollection
ofsubcatchmentareasthatreceiveprecipitationandgeneraterunoffandpollutant
loads.Theroutingportiontransportsthisrunoffthroughasystemofpipes,
channels,storage/treatmentdevices,pumps,andregulators.

SWMMtracksthequantityandqualityofrunoffmadewithineachsubcatchment.
Ittrackstheflowrate,flowdepth,andqualityofwaterineachpipeandchannel
duringasimulationperiodmadeupofmultipletimesteps.SWMM5hasrecently
beenextendedtomodelthehydrologicperformanceofspecifictypesoflow
impactdevelopment(LID)controls.TheLIDcontrolsthattheusercanchoose
includethefollowingsevengreeninfrastructurepractices:

1.Permeablepavement
2.Raingardens
3.Greenroofs
4.Streetplanters
5.Rainbarrels
6.Infiltrationtrenches
7.Vegetativeswales

Theupdatedmodelallowsengineersandplannerstoaccuratelyrepresentany
combinationofLIDcontrolswithinastudyareatodeterminetheireffectiveness
inmanagingstormwaterandcombinedseweroverflows.

RunningunderWindows,SWMM5providesanintegratedenvironmentfor
editingstudyareainputdatarunninghydrologic,hydraulicandwaterquality
simulationsandviewingtheresultsinavarietyofformats.Thelatterincludes

colorcodeddrainageareaandconveyancesystemmaps,
timeseriesgraphsandtables,
profileplots,and
statisticalfrequencyanalyses.

SWMM5wasproducedinajointdevelopmenteffortwithCDM,Inc.,aglobal
consulting,engineering,construction,andoperationsfirm.

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Capabilities

SWMMaccountsforvarioushydrologicprocessesthatproducerunofffromurban
areas.Theseinclude

timevaryingrainfall,
evaporationofstandingsurfacewater,
snowaccumulationandmelting,
https://www.epa.gov/waterresearch/stormwatermanagementmodelswmm 2/6
20/12/2016 StormWaterManagementModel(SWMM)|WaterResearch|USEPA

rainfallinterceptionfromdepressionstorage,
infiltrationofrainfallintounsaturatedsoillayers,
percolationofinfiltratedwaterintogroundwaterlayers,
interflowbetweengroundwaterandthedrainagesystem,
nonlinearreservoirroutingofoverlandflow,and
runoffreductionviaLIDcontrols.

Spatialvariabilityinalloftheseprocessesisachievedbydividingastudyarea
intoacollectionofsmaller,homogeneoussubcatchmentareas.Eachoftheareas
containsitsownfractionofperviousandimpervioussubareas.Overlandflow
canberoutedbetweensubareas,betweensubcatchments,orbetweenentry
pointsofadrainagesystem.

SWMMcontainsaflexiblesetofhydraulicmodelingcapabilitiesusedtoroute
runoffandexternalinflowsthroughthedrainagesystemnetworkofpipes,
channels,storage/treatmentunitsanddiversionstructures.Theseincludethe
abilityto

handledrainagenetworksofunlimitedsize
useawidevarietyofstandardclosedandopenconduitshapesaswellas
naturalchannels
modelspecialelementssuchasstorage/treatmentunits,flowdividers,
pumps,weirs,andorifices
applyexternalflowsandwaterqualityinputsfromsurfacerunoff,
groundwaterinterflow,rainfalldependentinfiltration/inflow,dryweather
sanitaryflow,anduserdefinedinflows
utilizeeitherkinematicwaveorfulldynamicwaveflowroutingmethods
modelvariousflowregimes,suchasbackwater,surcharging,reverseflow,
andsurfacepondingand
applyuserdefineddynamiccontrolrulestosimulatetheoperationof
pumps,orificeopenings,andweircrestlevels.

SWMMcanestimatetheproductionofpollutantloadsassociatedwithstormwater
runoff.Thefollowingprocessescanbemodeledforanynumberofuserdefined
waterqualityconstituents:

Dryweatherpollutantbuildupoverdifferentlanduses
Pollutantwashofffromspecificlandusesduringstormevents
Directcontributionofrainfalldeposition
Reductionindryweatherbuildupduetostreetcleaning
ReductioninwashoffloadduetoBMPs
Entryofdryweathersanitaryflowsanduserspecifiedexternalinflowsat
anypointinthedrainagesystem
Routingofwaterqualityconstituentsthroughthedrainagesystem
Reductioninconstituentconcentrationthroughtreatmentinstorageunitsor
bynaturalprocessesinpipesandchannels

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Applications
Sinceitsrelease,SWMMhasbeenusedinthousandsofsewerandstormwater
studiesthroughouttheworld.Typicalapplicationsincludethefollowing:

Designingandsizingofdrainagesystemcomponentsforfloodcontrol
https://www.epa.gov/waterresearch/stormwatermanagementmodelswmm 3/6
20/12/2016 StormWaterManagementModel(SWMM)|WaterResearch|USEPA

Sizingdetentionfacilitiesandtheirappurtenancesforfloodcontroland
waterqualityprotection
Mappingfloodplainsofnaturalchannelsystems(SWMM5isaFEMA
approvedmodelforNationalFloodInsuranceProgram(NFPI)studies)
Designingcontrolstrategiesforminimizingcombinedseweroverflows
Evaluatingtheimpactofinflowandinfiltrationonsanitaryseweroverflows
Generatingnonpointsourcepollutantloadingsforwasteloadallocation
studies
ControllingsiterunoffusingLIDpractices
EvaluatingtheeffectivenessofBMPsforreducingwetweatherpollutant
loadings

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YouwillneedAdobeReadertoviewsomeofthefileson
thispage.SeeEPAsAboutPDFpagetolearnmore.

Support

ThereisnoformalsupportofferedforEPASWMM.ASWMMuserslistserv
wasestablishedbytheUniversityofGuelph.Thislistservallowssubscribersto
askquestionsandexchangeinformation.Tosubscribe,sendanemailmessageto
listserv@listserv.uoguelph.cawiththewords"subscribeswmmusers"(without
thequotes)inthebodyfollowedbyyourname.

Downloads

Date Description

StormWaterManagementModelReferenceManualVolume
01/29/2016 1Hydrology(PDF) (235pp,3.8MB)January2016Revised,
EPANo.600/R15/162A.

StormWaterManagementModelReferenceManualVolume
09/08/2016 IIIWaterQuality(PDF) (161pp,1.6MB)July2016,EPANo.
600/R16/093

SelfextractinginstallationprogramforSWMM5.1.011
09/07/2016
(EXE) (5MB)

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20/12/2016 StormWaterManagementModel(SWMM)|WaterResearch|USEPA

Date Description

SourcecodefortheSWMM5.1.011ComputationalEngine
09/07/2016
(ZIP) (373K)

SourcecodefortheSWMM5.1.011GraphicalUserInterface
09/07/2016 (ZIP) (2MB)

ListofSWMM5.1.011updatesandbugfixes
09/07/2016
(TXT) (1pg,128K)

09/07/2016 SWMM5.1.011InterfaceGuide(ZIP) (47K)

09/30/2015 SWMM5.1UsersManual(PDF)(353pp,10.2M)

07/06/2010 SWMMApplicationsManual(ZIP) (7MB)

QualityAssurancereportfordynamicwaveflowrouting
09/19/2006
(ZIP) (3MB)

UtilityforconvertingSWMM4datafilestoSWMM5files
05/25/2005
(EXE)Version1.2 (2MB)

AddinTools
AddintoolscanaugmentthebasicfunctionalitiesofSWMM.

TheStormWaterManagementModelClimateAdjustmentTool(SWMMCAT)is
anewadditiontoSWMM(December2014).Itisasimpletousesoftwareutility
thatallowsfutureclimatechangeprojectionstobeincorporatedintotheStorm
WaterManagementModel.SWMMwasrecentlyupdatedtoacceptmonthly
adjustmentfactorsfortimeseriesthatcouldrepresentingthepotentialimpactof
futurechangesinclimaticconditions.SWMMCATprovidesasetoflocation

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20/12/2016 StormWaterManagementModel(SWMM)|WaterResearch|USEPA

specificadjustmentsthatderivedfromglobalclimatechangemodelsrunaspart
oftheWorldClimateResearchProgramme(WCRP)CoupledModel
IntercomparisonProjectPhase3(CMIP3)archive.

SWMMCATDownloadVersion1 (4MB)

USEPA(2014)"SWMMCATUserGuide(PDF)" (17pp,826K)PublicationNo.
600/R14/428.

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HelpfulResources
SWMMFactSheet
NationalStormwaterCalculator:Adesktopapplicationthatestimatesthe
annualamountofrainwaterandfrequencyofrunofffromaspecificsite
anywhereintheU.S.(includingPuertoRico).Itinformssitedeveloperson
howwelltheycanmeetadesiredstormwaterretentiontargetwithand
withouttheuseofgreeninfrastructure.Italsoallowsuserstoconsiderhow
runoffmayvarybasedbothonhistoricalweatherandpotentialfuture
climate.
GeoPlatformStormwaterBMPPerformanceDatabase:Webmap
displayingsiteswheretheperformanceofBMPsandLIDapproachesfor
controllingstormwaterrunoffhasbeenmonitoredandreportedon.Each
sitealsocontainsalinkbacktothedatabasewheremoredetailed
informationonthesiteanditsperformancecanbefound.
TheSanitarySewerOverflowAnalysisandPlanning(SSOAP)
toolbox:Asuiteofcomputersoftwaretoolsusedforquantifyingrainfall
derivedinfiltrationandinflow(RDII)andfacilitatingcapacityanalysisof
sanitarysewersystems.ThetoolboxcanbeinterfacedwithEPASWMM
forperformingdynamicflowroutingthroughsanitarysewersystems.
BASINS:Amultipurposeenvironmentalanalysissystemthatcombinesa
geographicalinformationsystem(GIS),nationalwatersheddata,andstate
oftheartenvironmentalassessmentandmodelingtoolsintoone
convenientpackage.
CenterforExposureAssessmentModeling(CEAM):Providesproven
predictiveexposureassessmenttechniquesforaquatic,terrestrial,and
multimediapathwaysfororganicchemicalsandmetals.

TechnicalContact
Needhelpwiththemodel:ContactUsaboutSWMM.

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ContactUstoaskaquestion,providefeedback,orreportaproblem.

https://www.epa.gov/waterresearch/stormwatermanagementmodelswmm 6/6