This could be the calm after the storm.
A new type of concrete system can drain 1,056 gallons of water a minute, an innovation that could be integral after a storm since it can reduce the risk of flash flooding and other serious consequences.
Developed in the U.K., Topmix Permeable was formed in response to the 2007 floods where more than two thirds of the 57,000 damaged homes weren’t flooded by swollen rivers. Rather, they were affected by water running off pavement or overflowing from the overloaded drainage systems.
The issue is that the majority of existing drainage systems are designed to remove rainwater as quickly as possible and funnel it into watercourses or drains. As a result, during heavy rainfall, public sewer systems quickly reach capacity and consequently overflow.
To offset the flooding issue, the permeable concrete functions as a reservoir, and delays storm water from discharging into watercourses or drainages systems, according to the U.K. company.
Another added benefit is the technology’s effectiveness in removing pollution from rainwater runoff. Stormwater is easily contaminated by petrol, diesel, detergents and other pollutants.
Still, the technology has its limitations and is best suited for lesser-trafficked locations. It doesn’t work for highways and heavily trafficked streets, and is more conducive to such urban terrain as residential roads, parking lots, driveways and patios.
As concerns over climate change grows, experts say that engineers, city planners and architects need to start paying closer attention to developing more efficient water draining systems, ThinkProgress noted.
“In general, for a long time when we thought about environmental consequences in buildings, water wasn’t one of the big ones [that regulatory authorities] thought about -- we thought about fire, we thought about human health and air quality,” Dana Buntrock, an architecture professor at the University of California, Berkeley, told ThinkProgress. “Water is getting more attention now.”
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