Comparative performance of permeable and porous Pavements

The traditional approach to stormwater management is based on the development of urban drainage networks to convey stormwater away from developed areas quickly. With the increase in impermeable areas due to urban development, the quantity of stormwater runoff is significantly increased, overloading existing infrastructure. Pollutants carried by stormwater to receiving waters are also a major concern. Pervious pavements in car parks and driveways have potential to reduce peak discharge and the volume of runoff flowing into urban drains and improve runoff water quality by trapping the sediments in the infiltrated water. The paper focuses on presenting results from field tests carried out in Melbourne, Australia to evaluate reductions in peak discharge and the volume of stormwater after infiltrating through pervious pavement surfaces. The current study examines two types of pervious pavement surfaces: namely C&M Ecotrihex pavers and Atlantis turf cells and compares their performance against a conventional asphalt paved car park. Considerable reduction in peak discharges, runoff volumes, pollutant concentrations and loads were obtained from field tests. These reductions reduce the stresses on hydraulic infrastructures and on the ecosystem of the receiving waters. Furthermore, both C&M Ecotrihex and Atlantis turf cell surfaces reduces the lag-time by at least one hour to the peak discharge compared to the asphalt surface. This would further reduce the pressure on the infrastructure during a big storm event

Sustainable management of stormwater using pervious pavements

Pervious pavements in car parks and driveways reduce peak discharge and the volume of runoff flowing in to urban drains and improve the water quality by trapping the sediments in the infiltrated water. This reduces the risk of pollutants such as suspended solids and particle bound chemicals such as phosphorous, nitrogen, heavy metals and oils and hydrocarbons entering receiving waters. The key objectives of the study are to establish relationships between rainfall and pervious pavement runoff and quantify improvements to infiltrated stormwater quality through the pervious pavement. The field experimental results were used to calibrate the PCSWMMPP model and to develop water flow and quality improvement transfer functions of the MUSIC model for concrete block and turf cell pavements. The research reported herein has demonstrated that pervious pavements can be introduced as a sustainable stormwater management initiative and as a key Water Sensitive Urban Design feature to deliver numerous benefits to the environment. The outcomes from the study will be useful in designing environmentally friendly car parks, pedestrian paths, light traffic drive ways, sporting grounds and public areas in the future. Land developers and local government authorities will be major beneficiaries of the study which has increased the understanding of the use of pervious pavements and explored a number of issues that previously inhibited the wider use of pervious pavements in practice

Comparative performance of permeable and porous pavements

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Pollutant load removal efficiency of pervious pavements: Is clogging an issue?

Pervious pavements in car parks and driveways reduce the peak runoff rate and the quantity of runoff discharged into urban drains as well as improve the stormwater quality by trapping the sediments in the infiltrated water. The paper focuses on presenting results from the laboratory tests carried out to evaluate water quality improvements and effects of long-term decrease in infiltration rates with time due to sediments trapping (clogging) within the pavement pores. Clogging was not found to be a major factor affecting pervious pavement performance after simulating 17 years of stormwater quality samples

Contributing to the sustainable use of stormwater: The role of pervious pavements

The city of Melbourne, Australia is experiencing a water crisis with potable water storage reservoirs at an all time low. With increasing urbanisation there is an ever increasing need to research and explore sustainable water management initiatives. There is potential to minimise the negative impacts of stormwater runoff and augment dwindling supplies of potable water through adoption of pervious paving technology. The traditional approach to stormwater management has focused on constructing drainage networks to carry stormwater away from developed areas as quickly as possible to avoid the risk of flooding. The main aim of this research project was to establish relationships between rainfall intensity, infiltration rate and pervious pavement runoff and to examine the improvement to stormwater quality after infiltrating through pervious pavements. This paper describes the laboratory experiment set-up to determine the infiltration patterns and stormwater quality improvement for simulated storms precipitating on pervious pavements. Next, the scaling-up of the experimental rig to a field-based trial is explained. Preliminary results from this work are presented to demonstrate the potential benefits of pervious pavements in the Australian landscape