Applying multi-criteria decision analysis to select WSUD and LID technologies

Abstract

Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) and Low Impact Development (LID) principles were investigated in Dhaka's drainage network using ‘Regime in Balance’ strategy for Average Recurrence Interval (ARI), Y = 100 years. Three feasible alternatives, such as, leaky-well, soak-away and infiltration trench were identified and designed to improve Dhaka's present unsatisfactory stormwater drainage system into one which is sustainable. For selecting the best one, we applied a multi-criteria decision analysis approach and chose the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) model. Eleven criteria under three categories (technical, economic and social) were considered to quantify relative priorities of alternatives. Pair-wise comparisons of alternatives were performed against each criterion and ranked using a scale from 0 to 9. During the process of applying AHP model, consistency of ranking was thoroughly checked and a reasonable level of inconsistency was accepted due to the nature of human judgement. After the analysis, it was found that leaky-well (percentage priority 43%) followed by soak-away (38%) was the most appropriate technology for improving urban stormwater management system in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The proposed model can also be used in better selecting WSUD and LID technologies in other geographic locations.

Biotransformation study of antidepressant sertraline and its removal during biological wastewater treatment

“…The influence of these factors differs from one geographical location to another, which calls for an analytic tool to systematically rank these variables based on their relative importance. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is one such tool that has been used extensively to rank multiple criteria and their sub-criteria (of same or different units) to create a relative importance hierarchy to establish coefficients using a set of eigenvectors (Section S4) and identify appropriate locations where SuDS can be most effective (Ahammed et al, 2012;Jack, 2012).…”

Life cycle assessment of low impact development technologies combined with conventional centralized water systems for the City of Atlanta, Georgia

“…Many studies describe how LID technologies control the rate and volume of stormwater runoff, and prevent degradation of surface water quality and aquatic habitats [5][6][7][8][9][10]. Additionally, implementing LID technologies creates green spaces, which reduce heat stress mortality, and increase property value and recreational opportunities [11,12]. Rainwater harvesting technology converts stormwater runoff into a water resource, which can be used for groundwater recharge and nonpotable purposes such as irrigation, toilet flushing, and laundry [13][14][15][16][17].…”

Development of a Multicriteria Scheme for the Identification of Strategic Areas for SUDS Implementation: A Case Study from Gijón, Spain

“…The methodology developed in this study differs from previous research in the design of the MCDA tools for SUDS implementation. In this case, the potential areas for SUDS implementation have been identified according to sustainable criteria linked to their comprehensive design, in contrast to other studies where MCDA have been applied to the identification of potential areas for specific SUDS typologies [60,64,73] or a number of limited pillars of design [57] or gave more emphasis to a single criterion such as the vulnerability to flooding [66].…”

“…Different Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) have been reported to be implemented for the evaluation of stormwater management in dense urban areas, noting the following: Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) [56], Multi-Attribute Value Theory (MAVT) [56], Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) [57], fuzzy AHP [58], Analytic Network Process (ANP) [59], fuzzy logic [60], Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) [61], fuzzy TOPSIS [58], Simple Additive Weighting Model (SAW) [62], Elimination and Choice Expressing the Reality (ELECTRE) [63], and PROMETHEE-GAIA [63]. One of the most popular is the AHP model [56,[63][64][65], becoming the most common GIS-MCDA used for flood susceptibility analysis [66,67]. Various researchers have applied the weighted linear combination of GIS with AHP in this context [54,57,66,68,69].…”