Water quality improvement performance of geotextiles within permeable pavement systems: A critical review

Scholz, M

Abstract

Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS; or best management practices) are increasingly being used as ecological engineering techniques to prevent the contamination of receiving watercourses and groundwater. Permeable paving is a SuDS technique, which is commonplace in car parks, driveways and minor roads where one of their functions is to improve the quality of urban runoff. However, little is known about the water quality benefits of incorporating an upper geotextile within the paving structure. The review focuses on five different categories of pollutants: organic matter, nutrients, heavy metals, motor oils, suspended solids originating from street dust, and chloride. The paper critically assesses results from previous international tests and draws conclusions on the scientific rigour and significance of the data. Findings indicate that only very few studies have been undertaken to address the role of geotextiles directly. All indications are that the presence of a geotextile leads only to minor water quality improvements. For example, suspended solids are being held back by the geotextile and these solids sometimes contain organic matter, nutrients and heavy metals. However, most studies were inconclusive and data were often unsuitable for further statistical analysis. Further long-term research on industry-relevant, and statistically and scientifically sound, experimental set-ups is recommended.

Citation

Scholz, M. (2013). Water quality improvement performance of geotextiles within permeable pavement systems: A critical review. Water, 5(2), 462-479. https://doi.org/10.3390/w5020462

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: May 16, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Journal: Water
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 462-479
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w5020462
• Keywords: best management practice, car park, clogging; heavy metals, oil, paving block, pollutant removal, salt, suspended solids, sustainable drainage system
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w5020462
• Related Public URLs: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/water