Permeable Pavers:
Encourage Groundwater Recharge
The need to create greater environmental awareness
in dealing with water conservation is evident and by understanding and implementing
some of these simple principles, it gives real meaning to all the decisions
that we make about how a landscape is planned and that we are doing something
positive which we have control.
Permeable
landscape pavers, grid style, first appeared in the landscape in Germany in
1961. Now some fifty years later, yes I
said fifty, permeable pavers are still being treated like a new idea.
There are many styles of permeable pavers,
from the typical grid pavement for occasional use (typically seen with a
cultivar of grass growing through them), to the concrete cast pavers that create a ¼” minimum open joint,
providing interstitial spaces for gravel and drainage (ref. above photo).
Designing sites to respect natural drainage
patterns, minimize impermeable surfaces and maximize stormwater infiltration
can help protect site and regional hydrologic systems by reducing downstream
impacts and recharging groundwater. By
implementing permeable pavers along with stormwater planters and rain gardens
and vegetated swales, we can slow down sheet flow, allowing the stormwater to
infiltrate and reduce downstream impacts.
Since landscape pavers are constructed on a monolithic sub-base, pavers
withstand our areas freeze and thaw conditions without any issues when
installed correctly. These permeable
pavers have a veneer surface that will withstand standard ice melt applications
and should have an average life span of 25 years under normal conditions. Permeable pavers are also play a major role
in sustainable site design and are LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) accredited, LEED NC 2.2 SS Credit 6:1:
Stormwater Design: Quality Control
Resources Stormwater Best Management Practice
Design Guide, EPA / 600 / R-04/ 121A, September 2004
