COMING OFF CLEAR AFTER THE SHOWERS

The problems generated by rainfall flows are not new for Baku. Each of the folks living of Baku has suffered from them. He knows that if the weather forecast promises rain, there definitely will be difficulties with traffic movement. The flooded streets, lengthy traffic jams, people wandering in the water and the stuck cars - this is just a preview list of troubles that the people are suffering these days.

We believe the most memorable and impressive illustrations of rain floods in Baku were the photos of cars stuck in a lengthy traffic jam on Neftchilar Avenue and waterfall gushing from the walls of the tunnel on Darnagul Highway.

But it seems that the tormented residents of the capital will soon be relieved in the rainy days. President Aliyev has established a working group on improving rainwater discharge system of Baku given the increasing amount of rainfall and the development of the city. The Heads of the Presidential Administration, Ramiz Mehdiyev, will be the chairman of the working group, which is going to include the heads of all respective agencies.

The preamble of the presidential decree says that the amount of precipitation in September and October 2016 exceeds the norm 9.2 and 3.7 times, respectively. It is emphasized that the system of rainwater drainage is behind the high rate of development of Baku and Absheron. This has caused numerous floods and traffic congestion.

Therefore, to prevent such cases, the working group is instructed to prepare a set of proposals within three months for the gradual reconstruction of the sewerage system and its management based on the growth rate and the population of Baku, as well as the environmental and health risks.

Also, during the next two months, the group should identify streets potentially exposed to flooding during the rainy periods and to prepare proposals for the implementation of comprehensive measures to drain the rainwater. It is also requested to prepare proposals for interoperability between the relevant governmental structures for disaster management and creation of material and technical base.

The urgent question

The launch of the sewage system in Baku dates back to 1878. At that time, this was a top priority issue. It was difficult to breathe in the city growing every day. In 1884, the problem of unsanitary conditions in the streets and sewer construction was again on the agenda. A huge number of gutters and a disgusting smell in the streets of Baku demanded for urgent action.

An English engineer, William Lindley, had already developed projects for separate sewerage systems for St. Petersburg and Moscow. The technical community of Baku established a joint sanitary commission and appointed the Chief Engineer of the provincial administration, Nikolai von der Nonne, as its chairman. On May 31, he presented his report “Sanitation of Baku by the sewage system”. In 1917, with the construction of the first line of the Shollar water pipeline, the economic life of the city has intensified. The construction of the water pipeline designed by the engineer Lindley solved the problem of sewage and mass gardening.

What is the reason for providing this historical background? The construction of the sewer is not an easy job. In addition to rainfall drainage systems, which collects and diverts the water to treatment facilities or directly into the water basins, there is also domestic sewage. In the major cities of the former USSR, including Baku, these two systems did not intersect and were operated separately. Such operation scheme is called a separated sewage system. The choice of a particular system is affected by historical factors. In other words, what was the existing drainage system or if it ever existed. For example, in Paris or Rome, the sewage system made use of the huge reservoirs built by the Romans. The urgent remake of the sewage system in Baku, Rome, Paris, Moscow, St. Petersburg or any other city, and rebuilding it at all, as in Singapore, is impossible for technical reasons. In fact, there are three sewage systems (for collecting rainwater, household water and a one used exclusively for domestic waste) operating simultaneously. However, it is still possible to reconstruct a similar infrastructure in Baku as well.

How to avoid flooding?

The answer to this question can be grouped under three points. Firstly, it is important to have a competent design of the sewage system. A good designer will link closely with each other the slope angles of the streets and the sidewalks, the number and location of grids for capturing rainfall waters, as well as the diameter and slope of pipes. Secondly, it is necessary to build a quality system. The builders have to follow exactly the parameters laid down by the designer. It is all about the details. For example, in Azerbaijan, the lawns are arranged improperly while they should be located below the level of the sidewalk. Then, the water and dirt from the pedestrian walkways will flow to the lawn, which is not terrible. Otherwise, all the water mixed with mud moves from the lawns to the roads. Thirdly, the system must be operated carefully. It is important to control the gullies so that they are not clogged with debris and other objects preventing the water flow. 

So, there are different reasons for flooding of the streets. It depends not only on the quality of rains (heavy or light), but also on the terrain and other conditions. If there is a hollow area on the street and both sides are lined with houses, the water has nowhere to drain. The street will be flooded for sure, which is the case in Baku.

Upgrading or elimination?

Yet the main rainwater problem of Baku is the collectors. It is no secret that the sewage system, which was constructed a century ago and renovated in the Soviet era, is outdated.

In his interview with R+, the Chairman of the Union of Independent Architects, Zemfira Budagova, reported that the specialized storm drainage in Baku during the growth period came in improper condition: “It was separate from the public sewerage system, and consisted of a tunnel system. Rainwater went straight into the sea without being filtered. Later, at the end of the last century, this system was eliminated by connecting storm drains with the public sewage system.”

It's time to separate them

The relevant services are partly agree with this opinion. The head of Press Service of Azersu JSC, Anar Jabrayilly, confirmed the need for a complete reorganization of the sewerage system. In particular, he noted the need to separate rainfall discharges from the sewage system, as the rainwater mixed with fecal runs to treatment plants, which in turn overstresses their capacity. He believes that it is necessary to create a system of tunnels so that the rainwater flows into the sea or underground rivers and lakes without purification.

Azeravtoy OJSC also supports this opinion. The head of the press service of the organization, Anar Najafli, mentioned that the majority of capital roads were constructed during the Soviet times. At that time, there was a little need for rainwater collection because thanks to the relief of Baku, the water would not accumulate on the streets and there were few buildings. Only 11-12% of the roads was equipped with rainwater discharge units. Now the situation has changed. The capital city is getting bigger and the new houses are built. There are areas where draining of rainwaters is a necessity. Our specialists determine such areas, and rainwater drainage is provided during the repair of these roads. Over the past year, 6 km of sewerage lines were laid on such roads, which covers 14-15% of the capital's streets. We do not have problems on these streets but we are on top of this issue.

However, if a road is not equipped with a sewer system, it does not mean that the rainwater must accumulate on it. “After covering some distance, these waters fall into the public sewage system. Unfortunately, sometimes the rainwater drainage system is connected to the sanitary sewer collectors, and, of course, during the heavy rains they just cannot cope with the flow of water. As a result, rainwaters flow out with sanitary sewage. After that, we received complaints about incorrect construction of roads, lack of rainwater collection system... But we have collectors on the flooded areas. Unfortunately, they are connected to the public sewage collectors, which cannot cope with the loading. It is not about the quality of the roads.”, said Najafli.

According to him, the biggest problems occur at the intersection of Ziya Bunyadov Avenue with Ahmed Rajabli and Aliyar Aliyev streets. A rainwater drainage system was created on the avenue during the construction and it works. But in rainy days, the collectors cannot cope with the task. As a result, part of the avenue gets flooded. This happens on Aliyar Aliyev Street near the Keshla Bazaar. Azeravtoyol believes that it is required to construct a new catch basin, and the organization has already sent a formal appeal to Azersu.

But why in this case the rainwater collectors were connected to the public sewage system? According to Najafli, this was due to a small number of collectors. “Sometimes the construction work spoils storm sewers. A similar case occurred at the Koroglu metro station, where the system was damaged on the road to Sabunchu settlement during the drainage of swamps. As a result, the road floods, and everyone blames Azeravtoyol, although this was not our fault”, concluded Najafli.

Cars in the water

Heavy rains disable not only the roads, but also the communications. Some possible causes of traffic jams are: poor visibility (the cars are drifting), engines of many cars “pass out”, problems with traffic lights. According to the Chief of Press Service of the Intellectual Transport Management System (ITMS), Shafa Mehmangyzy, the main reason is that the cables break down due to rains. In addition, the rains may suspend the power supply. But as soon as the problem is identified, ITMS immediately dispatches the specialists to the emergency site. She added that the traffic lights system is under the control of ITMS and the Ministry of Interior.

The Chief of the Head State Traffic Police Department of Baku, Colonel Vagif Asadov, said that if there were problems with traffic lights, the drivers should continue to move simply observing basic traffic rules. In general though, he asked the drivers to refrain using private vehicles offering them to use public means of transport, since heavy rainfalls caused 22 traffic accidents in Baku.

Rains are a real disaster for the cars. Especially considering the depth of puddles. For a typical sedan, a critical depth is 30 cm, for off-road vehicles, it is 60-70 cm. It all depends on the height of car’s air intake. If water penetrated the exhaust pipe, this is a wake-up call. The simplest solution is to increase the engine speed up to 3,000 RPM without increasing the speed. It is quite difficult for newbie drivers. But otherwise, they risk to decrease the pressure in the exhaust pipe, which will not be able to push out the water and flood the silencer. If water gets into the engine, it can seriously damage it resulting in full replacement of the engine, which is a rather expensive business. If geting out of the puddle on own does not work, the best thing you can do is not to overstress the engine, but to ask for help, because the most important thing is to quickly be on dry land. Then, it will be easier to revive the car and pay less costs.

Anyway, the presidential decree creates conditions for a radical solution of the problem with problems from the rain. Then, we will be able to enjoy clean air on rainy days without noticing the little puddles and not drowning in large lakes created by showers.