I am very excited to introduce the documentation panel, one of the newest features of PCSWMM. The purpose of this panel is to keep an ongoing inventory of all the files that are frequently used in the construction of a PCSWMM model. From my own experience I can say that the addition of the documen... [More]

Viewing and animating multiple profiles/HGLs simultaneously can aid in the analysis and presentation of many modeling projects. One prime example is in dual drainage (major/minor) system analysis, where the simultaneous plotting of both major and minor system HGLs allows the user to see the dynamic ... [More]

In version 3.9 of PCSWMM 2010 Standard and Professional, we have release some significant new features which are documented in other posts. However, we often do not mention the small changes that improve the aesthetics of the maps, graphs and profiles that PCSWMM produces. In this post I wanted to h... [More]

One of the more common errors we encounter in the technical support department for PCSWMM is problems with SWMM5 input time series having its data out of sequence. All of the tabular data in each SWMM5 Time Series object (whether or not it is actually used by the model) needs to move successively fo... [More]

This update adds some exciting new tools, as well as many incremental improvements to the software which are designed to increase workflow efficiency, improve automated processes and make the software more intuitive. There are a couple of changes to core functionality that you should be aw... [More]

CHI has introduced an advanced easy-to-use tool for importing river models from HEC-RAS (version 4.0 and earlier) into PCSWMM for modeling with the EPA SWMM5 dynamic wave, kinematic wave or steady-state routing methods. Simply select the geometric file you wish to import, and PCSWMM automatically im... [More]

In the latest version of PCSWMM 2009 (ver. 3.4), we have rolled out a compatibility mode for running earlier versions of the SWMM engine. In this version, we provide support for the last 2 years of EPA SWMM5 engine versions (i.e. all versions from EPA SWMM 5.0.013 up to and including the latest vers... [More]

New in PCSWMM 2009 version 3.4 is an anti-aliasing feature that improves map rendering of all layers (raster and vector). I could describe it in detail, however I think these two screen captures communicate everything that needs to be said. Anti-aliasing turned off (a la older PCSWMM):   Ant... [More]

With the release of PCSWMM 2009 version 3.4, we have made a huge leap forward in GIS capabilities. We've added support for many new GIS and CAD formats, improved map aesthetics with anti-aliasing, greatly simplified coordinate system setup (especially for State Plane projections), and... [More]

A couple of recent technical support questions inspired this post on selecting reasonable values for the various user-defined time steps required by SWMM5 when setting up a model. I've listed the main SWMM5 time steps, and provided some of my thoughts on each. Please let me know if I have missed any... [More]