Remediation of Stormwater Pollutants by Porous Asphalt Pavement

Abstract

Porous Asphalt (PA) pavements are an increasingly adopted tool in the green stormwater infrastructure toolbox to manage stormwater in urbanized watersheds across the United States. This technology has seen particular interest in western Washington State, where permeable pavements are recognized as an approved best management practice per the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) municipal stormwater permit. Stormwater effluent concentrations from six PA cells were compared with runoff concentrations from three standard impervious asphalt cells to quantify pollutant removal efficiencies by porous asphalt systems. Additionally, the effects of maintenance and pavement age on pollutant removal efficiencies were examined. Twelve natural and artificial storms were examined over a five-year period. Street dirt and pollutant spikes were added to the pavements prior to some storm events to simulate high loading conditions. Results from this work show that porous asphalt pavements are highly efficient at removing particulate pollutants, specifically coarse sediments (98.7%), total Pb ( 98.4%), total Zn (97.8%), and total suspended solids (93.4%). Dissolved metals and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) were not significantly removed. Removal efficiencies for total Pb, total Zn, motor oil, and diesel H. improved with the age of the system. Annual maintenance of the pavements with a regenerative air street sweeper did not yield significant pollutant removal efficiency differences between maintained and unmaintained PA cells.

Assessment of the physical characteristics and stormwater effluent quality of permeable pavement systems containing recycled materials

“…Rather than using synthetic stormwater as per numerous studies (Tota-Maharaj and Scholz 2010, Myers et al 2011, Rahman et al 2015b, Sounthararajah et al 2017, Jayakaran et al 2019 Captured stormwater runoff samples were applied uniformly over the rigs using a purposebuilt rainfall simulator at intensities not exceeding 2.0 L/min. Numerous studies (Alsubih et al 2016, Nnadi et al 2015, Sounthararajah et al 2017) have successfully used rainfall simulation techniques in their research.…”

Contribution of Road Vehicle Tyre Wear to Microplastics and Ambient Air Pollution

“…This category includes solutions such as tyre particle collectors [231] and constructing road surfaces as a trap for particles [232][233][234][235][236]. These measures reduce resuspension and particles reaching sewers and road runoff [237].…”

Urban Heat Island: Causes, Consequences, and Mitigation Measures with Emphasis on Reflective and Permeable Pavements

“…Effective stormwater management as they can significantly diminish the impact of urbanisation on a hydrological cycle by influencing several factors such as rainwater infiltration and groundwater recharge, surface runoff reduction [121], and water purification [122].…”