Subject to where you are from, different countries have different terms for "storm drain".
Accordingly to Wikipedia, a storm drain is essentially a tunnel that carry runoffs ( floor drain ) from urban areas. For a layman, it helps to think along the line of sewage system that functions beneath our cities.
In the states, this is popularly known as "storm drain" or "storm sewer".
In the UK, this is popularly known as "surface water drain" or "surface water sewer".
In Australia and New Zealand, it is commonly known as "stormwater drain".
And there you have it, next time you hear someone mentioning "storm drain", "storm sewer", "surface water drain","surface water sewer" and "stormwater drain", congratulations, you know they mean the same thing.
Functions of storm drain include draining excess water (rain or storm water) and ground water from pavement, streets and carparks into rivers and streams in order to avoid flooding.
Although storm drains accomplish a amazing job of draining excess water from the urban areas, the inlets are essentially openings where left uncovered could be a danger to pedestrians. Left uncovered, rubbish will get into the storm drains and cause choking which might eventually cause flooding.
To ensure storm drains serve their purposes while minimizing the dangers posed to pedestrians and to prevent choking of the drains, drain covers (gratings) are widely-used to cover the inlets (openings) of the storm drains to achieve two purposes.
At Jonite, we specialise in steel reinforced drain covers (gratings) which cover your storm drains while preserving the aesthetic components of the architecture around the drain covers.