Maintain Those Hard Surfaces with Help from a Professional
We live in a paved world. Everywhere, sidewalks, roads, parking lots, concrete—much of it is porous, even if it’s a simple slab of concrete. In other places, there may be special designs that have holes or gaps in between shapes or other design elements. Much of the new pavement put down these days is porous, so rain water drains through and is directed to separators and ground water treatment systems.
For this reason, the main objective in pervious pavement maintenance is to keep the pavement from getting clogged with debris and sediment. To do this, we recommend a cleaning schedule. Vacuuming twice a year is a good idea to prevent clogging. At VacTone Environmental, we use specialized tools to get the job done right.
Two Goals of Porous Pavement Maintenance:
- To remove debris, keeping the area looking aesthetically pleasing.
- To clean out plugged surfaces so that water will drain properly.
Parking Lot Maintenance
Pavement used on parking lots poses an extra problem for the environment. As we mentioned in an earlier blog, rain water in parking lots has no place to go, no soil to sink into. As a result, water runoff in parking lots can cause flooding. And it can eventually flow toward drainage systems, which is dangerous because water runoff in parking lots can contain all kinds of materials, even chemicals, that you don’t want to get into the water supply.
For example, the sealcoat used on parking lots, which protects them from all kinds of weather, is actually a black liquid containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Every time the tires of vehicles drive over this sealant, they can break off pieces of it, even make tiny abrasions, which then turns the sealant into fine particulates that will be swept away with the water runoff and possibly toward lakes and rivers.
That’s why storm water maintenance and pavement cleaning go hand in hand—to keep sediment off surfaces, and/or to unclog the pores of the pavement where it has settled in. At VacTone Environmental, we provide all of these services.
Planted Areas
It is especially important to regularly maintain any areas near porous pavement that contain soil and plantings. Maintenance will help to reduce the chance of soil washing onto the pavement. If there is soil washout, the pavement should be cleaned right away to eliminate any clogging. It’s important to understand that soil on the surface of the pavement pores won’t necessarily cause severe clogging. But it’s a good idea to keep it clean.
What is more likely to do serious damage is sediment from construction, tires on nearby roads and other loose materials.
At VacTone Environmental, we’re committed to doing these jobs that are far too complex for you to try to handle yourself. We go the extra mile at a reasonable cost in order to get the job done. Contact us today for a consultation!
VacTone Environmental Services is your New England connection—serving Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and northern to central Connecticut and Rhode Island.