The water footprint of permeable sidewalk pavement in China

Abstract

As China continues to urbanize, the area of impervious surface in city is increasing, leading to serious problems of water logging, water resources shortage, and water quality deterioration. Thus, the comprehensive management of urban water resource is facing severe challenges. Based on the concept of "sponge city", this study employed the life cycle assessment (LCA) modeling approach to calculate the water resource footprint of permeable sidewalk pavement in Beijing, China, and compared the result with conventional concrete brick pavement. The results show that the water consumption of 1-m2 permeable pavement is 253kg, 19% higher than that of concrete brick pavement (212kg). Given that the average annual precipitation of Beijing is 597mm, 1-m2 permeable pavement can collect 5972kg of water resources throughout its 10-year life cycle, enabling a net water-saving benefit of 5.7 tons.