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Benefits
Applications
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Pervious Concrete And Stormwater Management
The situation is made worse by the runoff of toxic automobile pollutants such as oil and antifreeze, which accumulate on the pavement surface and are then carried away by rainfall. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, stormwater runoff can send as much as 90% of parking area surface pollutants directly into our rivers and streams. The EPA now requires state and local governments to implement measures to reduce and improve the overall quality of stormwater runoff in an effort to address this important issue.
In order to fulfill EPA stormwater regulations, runoff from impervious parking areas has traditionally been controlled with the use of containment methods such as retention ponds and swales. Though functional in their reduction of erosion and flooding, these solutions are costly to implement, requiring the purchase of additional land space. Furthermore, by serving as collection troughs for toxic pollutants as well as rainwater, they are detrimental to the environment despite their effective runoff containment.
Pervious concrete parking areas eliminate the need for retention ponds and other runoff collection methods, providing for more efficient land use. This benefits not only the building owner economically, but the entire community environmentally and aesthetically. Rather than directing and storing stormwater off-site, the pavement's open-cell structure models natural ground cover, allowing rainwater to filter through to the underlying soil. This leads to an equivalent aquifer recharge and groundwater increase as would occur in a grass-covered area. Furthermore, the air voids of pervious concrete provide a medium for aerobic bacteria which naturally break down many of the pollutants that seep from parked cars.
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The permeability of porous concrete
provides a potential solution to the problem of stormwater runoff, which is a
serious environmental concern accompanying increased urbanization. When land is
covered with impervious parking areas, driveways, and transit areas, rainfall is
unable to soak into the ground as it would under natural conditions. It must
therefore flow off the pavement and into adjacent areas, which can result in
flooding, erosion, and disruption of the environmental balance. 
