Stormwater runoff quality and quantity from asphalt, paver, and crushed stone driveways in Connecticut

Abstract

This study compared the quality and quantity of stormwater runoff from replicated asphalt, permeable paver, and crushed-stone driveways. Rainfall was measured on-site and runoff was recorded using tipping buckets. Flow-weighted composite runoff samples were analyzed weekly for total suspended solids, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, nitrate-nitrogen, ammonia–nitrogen, total phosphorus (TP), zinc, lead, and copper. Infiltration rate was determined on each driveway annually. Repeated measures analysis of variance indicated that stormwater runoff was significantly different among each driveway type; the order of decreasing runoff was asphalt> paver> stone. Average infiltration rates were 0, 11.2 and 9.0 cm/h for asphalt, paver, and crushed stone driveways, respectively. Both paver and crushed stone driveways reduced stormwater runoff as compared to asphalt driveways. Runoff from paver driveways contained significantly lower concentrations of all pollutants measured than runoff from asphalt driveways. However, runoff from crushed stone driveways was similar in concentrations to runoff from asphalt driveways, except for TP concentrations, which were lower in runoff from crushed stone driveways than runoff from asphalt driveways. The mass export of measured pollutants followed the relative differences in stormwater runoff, rather than differences in concentrations.