Permeable pavement benefits

In this article you can read about permeable pavement benefits. Learn more about pavers in our blog where we discuss different paving topics.

1. How It Works
2. Benefits
• 2.1. Easy to Install
• 2.2. Durable
• 2.3. Can Be a Temporary Option
• 2.4. Inexpensive
• 2.5. Erosion Control

Permeable pavements use porous materials that allow water to drain freely through the base system and into the ground water table below. Permeable paving is being used for sidewalks, roadways, cycle lanes, and parking lots to efficiently drain stormwater runoff and excess rain water without the use of gutters or drains.

Such pavement allows pollutants to be filtered out of the water and absorbs precipitation more evenly and efficiently. While some porous materials are outwardly indistinguishable from standard non–porous ones, their impact on the environment is qualitatively different. Porous materials allow efficient drainage of rainwater to seep down immediately into the ground and back to the water table.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of permeable pavement in more detail.

How It Works

When working with regular pavers, the problem of stormwater drainage occurs. When it rains, a huge amount of water from roofs, of houses splashes onto sidewalks, streets, and courtyards. There is one disadvantage to this method: the dehydration of the territories adjacent to the house leads to the destruction of the plants growing on them.

Apart from practical use, this type of pavement is good for ecology. Normally, water has to seep into the ground after a rain. And if everything is impervious, water goes to rivers and creeks. It leads to floods and pollution. Watershed is an important natural process that must not be disrupted. So how do permeable pavers let the water soak into the ground? The porous material lets water flow down through the surface and into the aggregate base system which is essentially a stored reservoir that allows water to slowly absorb back to the water table. Gravel or crushed stone clears the precipitation of all the pollutants, which helps preserve the environment.

Permeable pavement materials can be quite different:

Benefits

Permeable pavers have plenty of advantages apart from the ones described above. Let’s look at them. We will talk mainly about Porous Geo-cell plastic pavement grid systems as they have more pros than any other type of permeable surface.

Easy to Install

Permeable paver installation can be done by any handy DIY lover – you will not need to hire a contractor. The whole structure is very light and can be lifted by any person. After you have removed all the weeds from the ground and leveled it, you just lay the grid on the soil. Next the open cells are filled with either gravel or decorative stone. The next step is compaction. These systems are designed to be permeable, to control soil erosion, and also provide a stable surface for heavy equipment. The plastic grids when filled with gravel are very strong and are capable of withstanding loads as heavy as a Fire truck.

Durable

Permeable pavers are as durable as regular concrete or asphalt, or even more. They can have a life cycle of up to twenty to forty years, which is financially beneficial. Permeable pavement is suitable for any weather extremities as well as areas with high traffic volume.

Can be a Temporary Option

Sometimes people move to new houses and can’t afford to do the outdoor paving of their dreams straight away. But they still need to have a decent pathway to walk on. In this case, permeable geo-grid pavers are a perfect option. They can installed & then removed any time. You’ll only need to take away the gravel & roll up the grid. It can then be utilized again for another purpose. This also makes sense for temporary event areas that are held in different places.

Inexpensive

When you choose concrete, asphalt, or any other material for paving, they require a lot of money. On shipping, installation, equipment and so on. But with permeable geo-grid pavers, it is absolutely different. You won’t need almost any professional equipment, and you can install the whole structure yourself or with the help of some friends. The materials needed are quite basic and can be bought in any nearby store. Because the Permeable geo-grids are plastic, they are not heavy – making shipping / hauling to site much easier than with standard concrete or pavers.