Journal article
Cleanlet: a smart app for enhancing urban flood resilience through automated stormwater inlet management
Journal of hydroinformatics
18 Dec 2025
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Urban pluvial flooding, a growing challenge due to increasingly intense precipitation, occurs when stormwater runoff exceeds drainage system capacities in urban areas. This type of flooding is distinct from fluvial and coastal flooding, which are caused by overflowing rivers and high tides, respectively. Traditional grey infrastructure and modern green infrastructure methods have been implemented to manage urban stormwater, though their efficiency is often hindered by clogged inlets. The Cleanlet app was developed to address this issue by integrating real-time weather data and automation for stormwater inlet cleaning, offering timely notifications when rainfall thresholds are exceeded. Using an application programming interface developed by the National Weather Service that provides real-time rainfall data and Firebase for backend functionality, the app facilitates crowd-sourced just-in-time inlet cleaning. This paper presents the app's architecture, its functionality (including threshold setting and automated notifications), and a case study demonstrates the app's performance during a storm event, illustrating its potential to enhance urban flood mitigation efforts.
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Details
- Title
- Cleanlet: a smart app for enhancing urban flood resilience through automated stormwater inlet management
- Creators
- Nirajan Adhikari - Drexel UniversityFranco Montalto - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Journal of hydroinformatics
- Publisher
- IWA Publishing
- Number of pages
- 18
- Grant note
- National Science Foundation: CBET2141192
We gratefully acknowledge FUNDING support from the National Science Foundation (CBET2141192), which funded the project.
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering; Center for Public Policy; College of Engineering
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001658972400001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-105029369606
- Other Identifier
- 991022153458904721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
- Engineering, Civil
- Environmental Sciences
- Water Resources