New Firth EcoPave system offers environmental edge

Media Release

New Firth EcoPave system offers environmental edge
Firth is launching a new improved permeable paver system, Firth EcoPave, in response to calls from local government for more of these eco-friendly systems to be used.

Permeable pavements, roads and driveways are an alternative to traditional pavers, tarseal and concrete. They are beneficial to the environment because stormwater is able to permeate the paver (or its surrounds) which can significantly reduce peak water flow during storms.

Stormwater run-off from traditional pavers and driveways can cause stormwater systems to be overloaded in heavy downpours and pollute surrounding local waterway catchments. This is because stormwater contains pollutants such as chemicals, fertilisers, sediment and oils, destroying the quality of water flowing into waterways.

Sales Engineer for Firth Auckland’s Masonry Division, Steve Crossland says, “When stormwater pours down roadways it picks up copper and other contaminants which are extremely detrimental to aquatic life in a streams, rivers, beaches and harbours.”

“Firth has developed its new EcoPave system in response to calls from local authorities to increase usage of permeable pavers as stormwater run-off is a huge problem for councils around the country,” he says.

“The system is more effective because of the sub-base support layer, made of either drainage aggregate or no fines concrete from Firth’s Enviro range, rather than the normal GAP types of aggregate.”

Firth EcoPave has the potential to filter out some contaminants and releases cleaner run-off into the stormwater system. Water that permeates the pavers is also released at a slower rate helping to prevent stormwater systems overloading; and during periods of heavy rainfall in hot weather, warm water is retained longer in the system to enable it to cool rather than being released directly into catchment areas and impacting plant and aquatic life.

Firth has been researching and developing how to improve its permeable paving system for the past five years.

“We wanted to take a more active involvement in what goes underneath the pavers and to create tighter controls around the way permeable paving systems are laid,” says Crossland.
“To support the launch of the new Firth EcoPave system our website now offers a paving calculator and is able to provide contractors with good practice on how to install the system,” he says.

The permeable pavers used in the system are available in two colours: either black or natural and fall into two types – porous or standard. The porous pavers absorb the water, whereas the standard pavers are laid with an enlarged gap around the paver and the water permeates the joints. The permeable pavers are currently available in 50, 60 and 80 mm thickness.

Among their wide ranging uses, permeable pavers can be used for driveways, patios, footpaths, carparks, and cycleways They are also suitable for low traffic use such as car parks, access roads to townhouse developments and other low traffic commercial situations

Permeable paving systems also offer additional benefits; they are exempt from local authority definitions for impermeable surfaces which allow building size to be maximized within impermeable surface site restrictions. Permeable pavers can also play a part in reducing developers’ requirements for a sediment dams due to the pavers’ filtering properties.

ENDS

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