Total U.S. flood damage costs approached $200 billion from 1988 through 2017, according to a 2021 study in the National Academy of Sciences journal. Approximately $73 billion of those damages were due to excess precipitation over the 29-year period, the study said.

Various technologies and infrastructure strategies have been implemented to better manage stormwater in cities, but much of that infrastructure is aging. Pluvial flooding, or flooding from rainfall, is an increasing issue in urban areas that disrupts trucking routes and livelihoods around the world.

“Many contemporary cities are vulnerable to pluvial flooding, and its associated risks are projected to increase as the global climate changes, urban populations grow and existing infrastructure ages,” the 2018 study “Pluvial flood risk and opportunities for resilience” said.

Permeable pavement is a green infrastructure solution that was designed to let rainwater through to the ground below, reducing runoff and pluvial flooding while simultaneously refilling depleted aquifers. However, the pores in permeable pavements often get clogged, reducing the rate at which water can flow through.

The goal of Spokane, Washington-based company AquiPor’s co-founders Kevin Kunz and Greg Johnson was to create a more sustainable stormwater infrastructure with virtually cloggless permeable pavement, according to Kunz. AquiPor pavement has pores a fraction the size of hair follicles to prevent clogging, yet it maintains the strength and durability of conventional roads.

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