Sustainable Porous Concrete Solutions for Groundwater Recharge and Stormwater Management

Abstract

The rapid developments in the infrastructure and increasing pace of urbanization in cities, a significant portion of land is now covered with impermeable surfaces such as conventional concrete and bituminous pavements. These surfaces hinder natural rainwater infiltration, leading to increased surface runoff, urban flooding, and a decline in groundwater recharge. To address these challenges, this study explores the development of permeable (porous) concrete as a sustainable solution for effective stormwater management and enhanced groundwater replenishment. The proposed concrete mix eliminates fine aggregates to create interconnected voids, allowing water to percolate through the pavement and into the ground. In addition, the research aims to reduce the dependence on natural coarse aggregates by partially substituting cement with silica fume. Mix designs with silica fume replacement levels of 0%, 2.5%, and 5% were examined. Key parameters investigated are cement setting time, workability, compressive strength, split tensile strength, porosity, and permeability to evaluate its performance. Results show that porous concrete incorporating silica fume is technically viable and environmentally beneficial. While an increase in compressive strength and significant permeability was observed with addition of higher silica fume content and these traits are favorable for applications aimed at stormwater infiltration and groundwater recharge. This ecofriendly concrete is well-suited for low-traffic urban applications such as permeable pavements, pedestrian zones, and parking lots, where managing surface runoff and improving groundwater sustainability are critical. The study presents the environmental benefits of restoring natural water cycles in urban environments.

Introduction

As urbanization increases, impervious pavements contribute to waterlogging, urban heat islands, and pollution. Pervious concrete offers a sustainable solution by allowing water infiltration and reducing surface heat, making it useful for roads, parking lots, drainage systems, and more.

Properties of Pervious Concrete:

• Porosity: 15–35%

• Compressive strength: 2.8–28 MPa

• Water permeability: 0.135–1.21 cm/s

• Environmental benefit: Can filter heavy metals from runoff due to cement hydration products.

Environmental Concern:

The high carbon footprint of cement prompts the use of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) like:

• Fly Ash (FA)

• Silica Fume (SF)

• Others: GGBS, Rice Husk Ash

These SCMs improve microstructure, reduce porosity, and enhance strength and durability.

Research Objective:

To improve the compressive strength of pervious concrete using partial replacement of cement with fly ash and silica fume, while maintaining permeability for stormwater drainage.

Experimental Setup:

• Materials Used: OPC 53-grade, FA (Class F), SF, Coarse Aggregate (10–12.5 mm), Water, and Admixture (Conplast SP430).

• Mix Variants: 5 concrete mixes tested (100% OPC to 60% OPC + 20% FA + 20% SF).

• Testing Durations: 7, 28, and 56 days of curing.

• Tests Conducted: Compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexural strength, porosity, and permeability.

Key Findings:

• Permeability and Porosity: Decreased with curing time and increased FA/SF content, indicating denser microstructure.

  • Best result: OPC65% + FA20% + SF15% showed up to 30% lower permeability and 16.5% lower porosity than control.

• Mechanical Strengths:

  • Compressive Strength: Increased up to 44% over control at 7 days in the optimal mix.

  • Split Tensile Strength: Increased up to 54%.

  • Flexural Strength: Increased up to 44%.

• Best Performing Mix:

  • OPC65% + FA20% + SF15%

  • Exhibited optimal balance between strength and permeability.

Conclusion

The present study focuses on the development of pervious concrete, with particular emphasis on compressive strength as a key performance indicator. The effects of incorporating fly ash and silica fume as partial replacements for cement on the mechanical properties of pervious concrete are thoroughly investigated. Concrete specimens were prepared using varying proportions of fly ash and silica fume, and their mechanical and durability properties were evaluated after curing periods of 7, 28, and 56 days. Additionally, the study examines the influence of curing duration on the strength development of the pervious concrete mixes. The conclusions of the above experimental investigations is as follows. 1) Permeability of all concrete mixes decreased consistently with increasing curing age (7, 28, and 56 days), with greater reductions observed as the proportion of fly ash (FA) and silica fume (SF) increased. 2) Porosity showed a similar declining trend with curing time and higher FA and SF content, indicating the development of a denser microstructure due to enhanced particle packing and pozzolanic reactions. 3) Compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength steadily improved with curing age, with mixes containing higher FA and SF percentages achieving higher strength than that of the control OPC100% mix by 56 days, attributed to improved matrix densification. 4) Overall, OPC65% + FA20% + SF15% mix emerged as the optimum mix with highest compressive strength increases of 44%, 43%, and 34%, highest tensile strength increases of 54%, 53%, and 34% and highest flexural strength increases of 44%, 34%, and 19% at 7, 28, and 56 days over control mix OPC100%. 5) Addition of FA and SF substantially improves the durability and mechanical properties of pervious concrete. The optimized mix is highly suitable for high-performance pavement constructions.

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Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Niharika Patel, V. Madhava Rao, Prakash Chandra Swain, Mukesh Kumar. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.