DrainPilot Documentation

DrainPilot models storm drains and sewers in the browser with the EPA SWMM 5.2.4 engine, and checks them against Indian design norms. New to it? Start with Getting started.

1. 1Getting startedOpen a sample storm drain model, run it on the EPA SWMM 5.2.4 engine, read the results and save your work, in about five minutes.
2. 2The workspaceThe menus, toolbar, Project Browser, Study Area Map, Property Editor, status bar and child windows, laid out like EPA SWMM 5.2.
3. 3Building a networkStart a project, draw rain gages, subcatchments, junctions, outfalls, storage units, conduits, pumps and flow regulators, and set their properties.
4. 4Rainfall and design stormsGive subcatchments rain: rain gages, rainfall time series and data files, and a design storm built from your city's IDF curve by the alternating block method.
5. 5Running a simulationSet the simulation options, attach rainfall and other data files, run SWMM with progress and cancel, and read the status report and continuity errors.
6. 6Viewing resultsColour the map by any result, step and animate through the run, plot time series and the profile of a sewer, query the map, and find SWMM's summary tables.
7. 7Fixing problemsUse the Problems window to catch model mistakes before a run, read SWMM's errors and warnings in plain language after it, and zoom to the objects involved.
8. 8Storm drain complianceCheck every storm drain against the CPHEEO Manual on Storm Water Drainage Systems (2019): rational method flows from your IDF, velocity, Froude number, freeboard, cover and manhole spacing.
9. 9Sewer complianceThe sewer capacity statement: every reach checked at initial and ultimate peak against the CPHEEO Manual on Sewerage and Sewage Treatment Systems (2013), from SWMM runs or design sewage flows.
10. 10Sewer auto-design and pumping stationsSize every gravity sewer and set its inverts to CPHEEO limits with the least excavation, place lift stations where a sewer would pass 6 m deep, and size a pumping station and rising main.
11. 11Cost estimate (BOQ)Quantities by depth band for the pipes, trenches, manholes and road restoration of a circular-pipe network, priced from your state Schedule of Rates, with abstract, detailed estimate and measurement sheet in Excel and PDF.
12. 12Catchments and LID controlsDelineate subcatchments from a DEM for the model's inlets, estimate imperviousness from OpenStreetMap land use, and design and place low impact development (LID) controls.
13. 13Flood 2D (1D-2D surface)Build a 2D surface mesh over the ground from a DEM, couple it to the manholes, run the sewer and the surface together on SWMM, and map flood depth and hazard.
14. 14Calibration and scenariosCompare the model with flow monitor, level logger and rain gauge records (NSE, RMSE, peak, volume, timing), run a sensitivity sweep and an automatic calibration, and save and compare scenarios.
15. 15Import and exportOpen SWMM .inp files, build a project from survey schedules, DXF drawings or GIS layers, and export the model, SWMM's .rpt and .out files, CSV time series and DXF drawings.
16. 16Use DrainPilot from an AI appConnect Claude or another app that speaks MCP to DrainPilot, and ask it to run, check and compare SWMM models.
17. 17Keyboard shortcuts and glossaryThe keys and mouse actions of the DrainPilot workspace, and the SWMM and Indian design terms these docs use, in plain English.