URBAN STORMWATER REDUCTION

AND QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

THROUGH THE USE OF PERMEABLE
PAVEMENTS
C. J. Pratt, J. D. G. Mantle and P. A. Schofield
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Trent Polytechnic,
Nottingham, NG1 4BU, U.K.

ABSTRACT

Construction details are given of an experimental permeable* pavement,

comprising four separate sub-base sections containing different stone or
crushed rock. Sub-base drain effluents have been monitored for discharge
volume, flow rate and water quality parameters on the four sections.
Preliminary results are presented which indicate that useful volume and flow
rate reductions may be obtained via permeable pavements, and that water quality
may be enhanced by sedimentation and other treatment processes occurring within
the pavement. Effluent quality may be improved as compared with that
d i s c I") a r g e d f r o m t h e u s u a 1 i m p e r m e a b 1 e h i g h w a y s u r f a c e s i n similar r es i d en t i a 1
areas.

KEYWORDS

Stormwater; permeable pavement 5 sub-base; flow reduction; peak flow

attenuation; sedimentation; highway pollutants; effluent quality.

INTRODUCTION

Nat u r aI, p ermea b1e g rou nd sur f a ces exist in vari ou s proportions w i t hin
developed urban areas. Generally, these surfaces are not equipped with any
drainage and only occasionally supply stormwater flows, overland to a highway
drainage system. Stormwater infiltrates the surfaces, passing to groundwater
or percolating to a nearby watercourse through the upper soil horizons: or the
water evaporates, directly from puddles or the soil, or via plant
transp i r at i on. Ther ef or e, the r ai nf all on t hese natur a 1 , permeable* [Link]
contributes little to the problem of hydraulic over-loading of urban drainage
systems.

Several studies have shown that natural surfaces and the?» vegetation upon them
may be effective at retaining pollutants as urban stormwater passes over them
and hence at reducing their discharge to receiving waters (Yousef et al^« ,
1984). The processes of sedimentation and adsorption by soil particles and
plants provide a form of primary treatment which may be enhanced over a period
of time by natural chemical and biological degradation of the pollutants.

Nan-made, engineered, permeable pavements have the potential to reproduce the

above advantages, of flow reduction and water quality improvement, but in
addition may also provide urban surfaces which are designed to be load-bearing
for vehicle usage in all weathers. Presently, permeable pavements are only
used in car parking or storage areas, but in such situations the stormwater and
(Previously published in Water Science & Technology, Vol. 21, No. 8/9, 1989, reproduced
with permission.)
123
124 C. J. PRATT et al.

concrete block paving,

infiltration pores filled
with gravel

geotextile

sub-base
membrane

Fig. 1. Typical cross-section of permeable pavement

pollutants may be directly intercepted at source, prior to entry to any public

sewer, or discharge to a watercourse.

Typically, these man-made surfaces comprise a porous macadam or open-textured

concrete block wearing course, overlying a free-draining road base/sub-base
<Fig.l). The sub-base may be of various types of stone or crushed rock, and
the road base is either a similar material of smaller size or gravel, according
to whether the wearing course is porous macadam or concrete block paving,
respectively. In either case, the road base serves the dual purpose of
providing a levelling course, between the sub-base and the wearing course, and
a working surface for the movement of plant for the laying of materials. The
sub-base provides the reservoir for temporary storage of water.

Stormwater entering thee construction may percolate through the sub-base to

groundwater, or be collected by sub-base drains for discharge off-site to a
nearby sewer or receiving watercourse. Where the permeable? pavement is
constructed on a freely draining sub-grade, stormwater may be totally directed
to groundwater, subject to considerations of groundwater pollution. If the
sub-grade is weak and/or poorly draining, it may be necessary to seal the
formation with an impermeable membrane and collect all stormwater via a sub-
base drain system for discharge from the construction.

With to-day's practice of separate sewerage, sub-base drain effluent will be

discharged eventually to a watercourse, where water quality considerations will
be important. Hence, whether the permeable pavement discharges to groundwater
or to a watercourse, the quality of the effluent must be considered. Few
studies have been made to date on this aspect of permeable pavement
performance, or of the impact of directing urban stormwater from roofs and
highway surfaces to groundwater generally (Hogland et a_I_. , 19875 Malmquist and
Hard, 1982). This paper reports the preliminary results of a study of effluent
quality and runoff volume/peak discharge reduction on four trial areas of
permeable pavement, being undertaken as part of a wider study into the general
reduction and quality enhancement of urban stormwater.

EXPERIMENTAL PERMEABLE PAVEMENT

The experimental pavements studied in the research reported herein were

constructed on the Clifton Campus of Trent Polytechnic, where the underlying
soil is poorly draining K'euper Marl (FSR Soil Class 4 (Anon., 1975)). Both the
soil characteristics and the desire to monitor sub base drain flows led to the
installation of an impermeable membrane below the pavement (Fig.2). Overall,
the site was 4.6m wide by 40m long, providing parking for 16 cars.

The site was excavated to depths of 300 and 400mm on the two long sides, which
with a horizontal finished surface produced a sub-grade crossfall of some 27. to
a perforated plastic drain pipe (Fig.3). Four separate sections, each some 10m
long, were established within the pavement, so that any effects of using
 Use of permeable pavements 125

Fig. 2. Experimental permeable pavement construction showing

:i. m p e r m e a b 1 e m e m b r a n e o n -f o r m a t i o n

Fig. 3. Sub base drain passing through membrane

w i t. h w a t e r - 1 i g h t f 1 a n g e
126 C. J. PRATT et al.

different sub-base stone could be monitored. Sub-base drainage -from each of

the four sections was separately installed and laid to discharge at an
instrument pit, in which one-litre tipping bucket flow gauges measured
discharged volume. Solid state data loggers recorded the time of tip of each
of the four flow gauges and of a 0.1mm raingauge in the vicinity of the
permeable pavement.

Four different sub-base stones were* installed in the four sections» 10mm
rounded gravel (DTp Clause 505, (Anon., 1986)); 40mm blast furnace slag (DTp
Clause 505); 5-40mm granite (DTp Clause 803); and 5 40mm carboniferous
limestone (DTp Clause 803),(see Figs. 4,5 8< 6 ) . Each stone was vibration
compacted and a layer of geotextile positioned on top, prior to the spreading
of a 50mm layer of 5--10mm gravel as road base and the bedding for a concrete
block paving wearing course (Fig. 7)., The paving blocks were shaped to provide
a pattern of holes, from the surface to the bedding layer, and a pattern of
raised discs to carry vcehicle tyre loadings, which would prevent compaction of
the gravel in the holes, through which stormwater was to percolate (Fig.8).

FLOW REDUCTION

With a pavement construction which incorporated an impermeable membrane,

enclosing the sub"base reservoir, the potential for runoff volume reduction
might seem limited, as the only sources of loss were surface wetting (and
limited absorption) of the constuction materials in the short term, and
evaporat i on f rom the sur f ace i n the 1onger term, between st orm events. Figure
9 shows rainfal1-runoff plots for the section of the trial pavement with blast
furnace slag sub-base, during a period in September 1987.

It may be seen that marked reductions in runoff volume with respect to rainfall
volume in 0.1 Julian day i ncrements have been moni tored; some rainfall events
up to 5mm have produced no runoff from the sub-base drain; and generally, storm
r un of f volume f or any even t. on t he p er meab 1 e pavemen t :i. s s i g n i f i c an 11 y 1 ower
than the total event rainfall. Table 1 shows the observations for all four
sections of the trial pavement and illustrates the effect of using the
different sub-base stones. Blast furnace slag produced the least runoff
volume, presumably because its honeycomb surface offered many storage sites for
stormwater. Granite had the? highest runoff, which is assumed to result from
its lower surface area for wetting, relative to the gravel, and to its limited
absorpt i on potent i a1 , re1 ative to the 1i mestone.

I£!!±i_i_J2£§I_B§iQ£§!IzByQ2£ f ..-^§^§„f 9C„i^Ei-!lin)i-Dl§L.„E!i!lüi)!!™§!2l!i„E§Y®iD§Dt_

Juli a n D a y Tot a1 Tot a1 Runo f f, mm

R a i n fall __ _ _ __
Sub base Stone
mm Gravel B.F· S. Granite Limestone
'""225-234 ™"™"347i """ζϊΓΕ"" 5572 267E 25
235-244 20.2 17.0 15.5 21.7 15.8
245-254 19.5 8.9 8.6 11.9 8.7

Total 80.5 50.4 44.3 60.1 49.5

Percentage runoff 637. 557. 757. 617.

The performance of permeable pavements in comparison to traditional,

impermeable urban surfaces with positive drainage systems was most marked when
individual storms were examined in detail. It may be seen that peak effluent
discharge rate from the permeable pavement was only 307. of peak rainfall
intensity and the attenuation of the peak was some 5 to 10 minutes, in comparison
with impermeable surface times of concentration of 2 to 3 minutes at similar
ra i nf a11 in t en s i t y. Typical 1y, i mpermeab1e surf aces wouId disc h ar ge a1 most all
runoff by the t^nd of the rainfall, but the permeable pavements displayed
 Use of permeable pavements 127

Fig. 4. Experimental sub-base stones blast furnace slag (left); gravel (right)

Fig. 5» Experimental sub-base stones limestone? (left); granite (right)

128 C. J. PRATT et al.

Fig- 6« Prepared sub-base surface, awaiting geotextile layer,

road base (gravel) and permeable block paving

Fig. 7. Laying block paving surface

 Use of permeable pavements 129

Fig. 8. Surface detail on experimental permeable pavement

important storage characteristics e.g. on Figure 9, for the storm on Julian day
225 with total rainfall 22mm, only 377. was discharged from the blast furnace
slag within the rainfall duration; only '517. discharged after one hour -from the
end of r a i n f a 11 s a n cl o n 1 y 6 6 7. r a i n f a 11 eve r d i s <::: h a r g e d „

The s t o r m w a t e r d i s c h a r g e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s i l l u s t r a t e d could be -further e n h a n c e d

on larger const. r uc t i o n s , si nce par t of t he flow a11 enuat i on i s derived -from the
time of travel t o , and w i t h i n , the s u b - b a s e d r a i n s . The m a x i m u m d i s t a n c e
within the c o n s t r u c t i o n of the drain from any p o i n t on the f o r m a t i o n w a s only
s o m e four m e t r e s in t h i s c a s e , which could be c o n v e n i e n t l y doubled on a bigger
s i t e , and b e n e f i t s of dr ai n a g e cost econom:i. e s a 1 so r esu 11.

WATER Q U A L I T Y IMPROVEMENT

Trad i t i o n a I h i g h way d r a :i. n a g e i n u r b a n a r e a s c o m p r i s e s g r a t :i. n g s a n d g u l l y p o t s ,

prior t o d i s c h a r g e into the public s e w e r . Gully pots provide some
s e d i m e n t a t i o n , but not to a s a t i s f a c t o r y s t a n d a r d for mate:?rial less than 100
m i c r o n s , or material of an o r g a n i c n a t u r e which is e a s i l y t r a n s p o r t e d with
stormwater» P e r m e a b l e p a v e m e n t s may b e e f f e c t i v e s e d i m e n t a t i o n d e v i c e s ,
h o w e v e r , the d e p o s i t e d material may e v e n t u a l l y lead to a d e t e r i o r a t i o n in t h e
water i n f i 11 r a t i o n e f f i c i e n c y. T h e d e p o s i t e d m a t e r i a I :i. s <::: o 11 e c t e d e i t h e r ,
within the v o i d s in p o r o u s m a c a d a m , from which it must be flushed p e r i o d i c a l l y ,
or in the gravel b e d d i n g layer and h o l e s t h o u g h the c o n c r e t e block p a v i n g ,
w h i c h e v e r f o r m s the wearing c o u r s e » In the latter c a s e it is not p o s s i b l e to
flush the material into the sub base, and so eventually the blocks and bedding
must, be lifted, clean gravel placed and the blocks be re laid. Such an
oper at i on cou 1 d be qui c k 1 y undert aken and 1i 111e mat eri a1 need be wasted. The
question of how long do permeable pavements continue to perform satisfactorily
wi t hout material b 1 oc kage i s d i f f i <:::u11 t o answer 3 e>; per :i. enc:es differ widely, as
do the individual site conditions e.g. availability of mobile materials
alongside the site, use of the site by construction traffic, etc. greatly
influence the answer.
130 C. J. P R A T T et al.

SUB-BASEBLAST FURNACE SLAG

Fig. 9» Rainfall ~ runoff p l o t s for e x p e r i m e n t a l permeable pavement

The r e s u l t s from t h e p r e s e n t t r i a l s do illustrate? c l e a r l y that very e f f e c t i v e

s e d i m e n t a t i o n is a c h i e v e d . E f f l u e n t suspended s o l i d s c o n c e n t r a t i o n w a s
generally around 20mg/l and l e s s than 5 0 m g / 1 , which may be c o m p a r e d with
typical gully pot d i s c h a r g e s r a n g i n g u p w a r d s from 5 0 to 300mg/i (Pratt et a l . ,
1986).

Suspended s o l i d s p r o v i d e i m p o r t a n t t r a n s p o r t s i t es fo r h e a v y me t a 1 s a n d o t h e r
pollutants. The m o b i l i s a t i o n of heavy m e t a l s is affected by p H , h a r d n e s s and
alkalinity« Fig u r e 10 s h o w s ho w t h e s e p aramet er s ma y b e modi f i ed b y t h e c h o i c e
of const r uc t ion mat er i a 1 s w i t h i n the per m e a b 1 e p avemen t« Under t he con d i t i ons
established in the t r i a l s , the total lead c o n c e n t r a t i o n s , h i g h e s t in effluent
from thee blast f u r n a c e slag s u b - b a s e , w e r e still s o m e o n e order of m a g n i t u d e
lower than t y p i c a l l y oc:curs in gu 11 y pot di s c h a r g e s in resi dent i a 1 are<;-<s.
Clearly, improvements in effluent quality are possible by the appropriate sub-
base stone selection.
 Use of permeable pavements 131

RAINFALL
BLAST FURNACE SLAG
GRANITE SUB-BASE MATERIALS
LIMESTONE

Fig. 10. Sub b a s e ef-fluent and rain-fall quality parameters

man i t or ed at e>i per i men t a 1 s i t e

I n t h e -f u t u r e , t h e p r e s e n t t r i a 1 p e r m e a b 1 e p a v e m e n t s W i 11 b e r e c o n s t r u c t e d wit. h
a d d 1 1 i o n a 1 , p o s s i b 1 e e f f 1 u e n t q u a 1 i t y i m p r o v e m e n t f e a t u r e s i n s t. a l l e d . 11 h a s
been shown that a large proportion of the pollutants within a porous macadam
c o n s t r u c t i o n i n L u n d , S w e d e n , w e r e c: o n c e n t r a t e cJ i n a g e o t e >! t i 1 e 1 aye r < Hog 1 an d
et al . , 1 9 8 7 ) . One m o d i f i c a t i o n to be studied is t h e e f f e c t on e f f l u e n t
quality of additional qeotextile layers; presently there is one layer between
the sub-base and the gravel bedding layer. Also of interest will be the effect
of inc. o r p o r a t i n g o r g a n i c m a t e r i a 1 e.. g . p e a t o r c:: a r b o n g r a n u 1 e s , w i t h i n t h e s L.I b
base voids. E v i d e n c e e x i s t s that such material could i n c r e a s e the removal of
o rg a ni c po11u ta n t s f r om th e e f f1u e n t < G, j e ss i n g et a 1 . , 1984) .
132 C. J. P R A T T et al.

CONCLUSIONS

"Γ h e p r e I i m i n a r y r e s u 11 s f r o m a s t u d y o f a p e r m e a b 1 a p a v a m e n t, i..t s i n g v a r ion s

c o n s t r u c t i o n in a t e r i a 1 s, s h o w t h a t b o t h u s e f u I f 1 o w r e d LI C t i o n a n d p e a k d isc h a r g e
at1 enuat i on can be ach :i. eved , even i n c: :i. r c u m s t a n c e s w h er e st o r m w a t e r w a s
collected via s u b - b a s e d r a i n s -f: o r d i s c h a r g e o f f s i t e.

E f f I u e n t q u a 1 i t y h a s b e e n f o u n d t o b e m a r k e c:l 1 y b e 1 1 e r t h a n t y p i c a 11 y m o n i t o r e d
f r D m u r b a n , i m p e r m e a b I e h i g h w a y s u r f a c e s i n s i mi I a r r e s i d e n t i a 1 a r e a s , a n d
t h e r e e ;·! i s t s t h e o p p o r t LI n i t y f o r t h e d e s i g n o f c o n s t r LI C t i o n a n d c h o i c e o f
ma t e r i a 1 s t o e f f ec t qu a 1 i t y en h a n c e m en t.. T h e r e d n c e d e f f 1 LI e n t d i s c h a r g e ,
c o m b i n e d w i t. h 1 o w e r p o 11 u t a n t c:: o n c e n t r a t i o n s., m e a n s m LA c h r e d u c e d p o 11 u t a n t
1oads a r e p a s s e d t o r e c e i v i ng wa t er s .

P e»'" m e a b 1 e p a v e m e n t s h a v e n o t b e e n e m p 1 o y e d s u f f i c i e n 11 y f o r r e 1 :i. a b 1 e e s t i m a t e s
t o b e m a d e o f t h e i r e f f e c t ive w o r k i n g 1 i f e a n d m a i n t e n a n <::: e d e in a n c J s t o b e
e s t a b 1 i s h e d .. "Γ h e r e f o r e , t h e s e q u e s t i o n s r e m a :i. n u n a n s w e r e d a n d a r e g e n e r a 11 y
interpreted a s d i s a d v a n t a g e s . T h e a d v a n t a g e s of wider u s e of such p a v e m e n t s
are beg i nn i ng t o b e quan t i f i ed , a s h e r e , b u t ot her ad van t ag e s ex i st i n t he
wider c ont ext of ur b an dr a i n a g e basi n s , wher e prob1 a m s ar e c 1 e a r 1 y ev i den t:
h yd r a u 1 i c o v e r -· 1 o a d i n g of s e w e r & I e a cJ i n g t o e a r 1 y s t r LI C t LIr a 1 d a t e r i or a t :ί. ο η 5
h i g h e r sew e r f 1 o w s c a u s i n g f r e q u e n t s t o r m o v e r f 1 o w o p e r a t i o n s ; u n t r e a t e d
d i s c h a r g e o f u r b a n s t o r m w a t e r , s i n e e t h e i n t r o d u c t :i. o n o i'· s e p a r a t e s e w e r a g e
s y s t e m s , p r o d u c: i n g c o n t- i n u i n g a d v e r s e e f -f e c t s o n u r b a n w a t e r c o u i"- s e s; e t c « 11
i s i n t e n d e d t h a t t h e p r e s e n t r e s e a r c h s h o u 1 d p r o v i d e i n -f o r m a t i o n u p o n w h i c h
w i d e r c o n s i d e r a t i o n m a y b e g i v e n t o t h e o p p o r t LI n i t i e s p r e s e n t e d b y p e r m e a b 1 e
pavements, as one component in the overall drainage strategy for urban areas,
1 e a d i n g t o t h e i m p r o v e m e n t o f r e c e i v i n g w a t e r q u a 1 i t y.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The A u t h o r s grate-fully a c k n o w l e d g e t h e support g i v e n by t h e S c i e n c e and

E n g i n e e r i n g Research C o u n c i l , S w i n d o n , U K (Grant G R / D / 9 1 7 2 4 ) and Trent
Po 1 y t echn i c R e s e a r <:::h Sub··-Co<nmi 11 ee wh i cI") h a B e n a b l e d t h e r e s e a r cl"i t o b e
undertaken»

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