Why Permeable Pavement is not fully implemented?
Just like many cities in the US, Jersey City is facing the same problem: combined sewer overflow. Due to the old sewer system, rainwater runoff and wastewater go into the same pipes, so on the heavy rainy day, stormwater overflows. As the technologies developed, permeable pavement became one way that may help to reduce the overflow. Even Environmental Protection Agency promotes cities to have permeable.
The potential benefits of permeable is stormwater management. Permeable pavements facilitate in managing stormwater with efficiency by re-establishing a natural hydrologic balance and reducing the amount of runoff. On the other hand, the material permeable pavement use is recycled material. The city of Shoreview, Minnesota using the pervious concrete to help control stormwater and pollutant runoff into a nearby lake years ago, and the frequency of overflow is decreasing.
But there are some major drawbacks that permeable pavement cannot be implemented everywhere.
The cost of permeable pavement the more expensive than traditional pavements. Permeable pavement needs more effort on maintenance because it is prone to clogging. A more serious side effect of using permeable pavement is city sinking. As the raining may not occur citywide, one area store water by permeable pavement and slowly release to the pipes will make that area heavier than other areas. Many years later, the level of that area will lower than other areas, which may make that city imbalance. Implementation of permeable pavement needs to be installed in the specific area, not a citywide implementation.
Resources:
https://www.greenblue.com/na/permeable-pavement-the-pros-and-cons-you-need-to-know/
