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Benefits of
Lot Sweeping
BENEFITS OF LOT SWEEPING
The benefits of sweeping lots and other paved areas include improved curb appeal, enhanced safety, environmental protection, and extended pavement life. This applies to commercial parking lots, municipal streets, and industrial sites.
Appearance and customer experience
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Boosts curb appeal: A clean, well-maintained lot shows customers, tenants, and visitors that you care about your property and business.
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Creates a positive impression: Your parking lot is often the first thing people see. Tidiness signals professionalism and organization, which can attract more foot traffic.
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Discourages littering: People are less likely to litter in a clean, well-kept space. A neglected lot, on the other hand, can encourage more trash dumping.
Health and safety
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Reduces health risks: Sweeping removes dust, dirt, and other pollutants that can be tracked indoors, which can be a problem for people with allergies or asthma. It also removes food waste that can attract rodents and other pests.
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Minimizes accident risks: Debris like loose gravel, broken glass, nails, and other trash can cause slip-and-fall incidents for pedestrians or puncture vehicle tires. Regular sweeping helps prevent these hazardous conditions.
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Ensures ADA compliance: Regular sweeping keeps pathways and accessible parking spaces clear of debris for individuals with disabilities.
Environmental protection
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Prevents stormwater pollution: Debris and toxic materials like motor oil and brake dust left on pavement can wash into storm drains during rain. Street sweeping is a best management practice (BMP) recognized by the EPA to prevent these contaminants from polluting local rivers, lakes, and streams.
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Reduces airborne dust: Sweeping, especially with specialized equipment, helps control the spread of fine particulate matter (PM10), which improves air quality.
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Keeps drains clear: By removing litter and leaves, regular sweeping prevents clogs in storm drains that can lead to flooding.
Cost-effective maintenance
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Extends pavement life: Accumulated sand, dirt, and gravel can act like sandpaper under vehicle traffic, causing premature wear and damage to asphalt or concrete. Regular sweeping removes these abrasive materials, preventing cracks and potholes.
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Avoids costly repairs: Proactive maintenance from sweeping helps prevent small problems from becoming expensive repairs or resurfacing projects. This also minimizes disruptions to your business that would result from large construction projects.
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Lowers liability costs: By reducing accident risks, property owners can avoid costly lawsuits from injuries that occur on their property
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Historically, street and parking lot sweeping has been done for aesthetic purposes; however, environmental concerns and regulations have become increasingly prevalent over the past several decades, making stormwater and air quality some of the more important reasons to sweep streets, parking lots, and other paved surfaces today.
Materials that are
found on parking lot
surfaces
MATERIALS YOU WANT REMOVED
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Crustal materials – Such as soil, sediment, sand, and eroded rock from the weathering of bricks, concrete, and asphalt from pavement and structures. This material is carried by surface runoff, wind, vehicle trackout from construction sites, unpaved roads, and pavement abrasion from vehicular traffic.
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Vegetation – From yard waste such as grass clippings, and leaves and twigs from trees.
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Motor vehicles – From tire debris and particles, exhaust emissions, brake dust, fluids such as oil, transmission fluid, coolant and fuel, and chunks of plastic and glass from wreckage.
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Industrial emissions.
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Litter – Such as trash, bottles, fast food wrappers, and hypodermic needles.
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Animal carcasses.
Harmful pollutants
that can be found in
parking lot spoils
POLLUTANTS YOU DONT WANT
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Metals – From vehicle wear, vehicle fluids, brake dust, weathering of structures, crustal materials. Metals commonly characterized in street dirt include aluminum, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc.
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Organics – Include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phthalates, and pesticides. Sources of organic pollutants come from vehicle fluids, vegetation, combustion, plastics, and motor oil.
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Nutrients – Include nitrogen and phosphorus. Sources include fertilizer, yard waste, vegetation, animal waste, and fossil fuels. Excess nutrients can cause harmful algal blooms (HABs), which can affect odor and taste of water, and could contribute to anoxic water conditions.
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Particulate Matter (PM) – Refers to solid and liquid materials varying in size from aerosol to large grit that are suspended in the air. EPA regulates both “inhalable coarse particulates” (PM10 – particles between 2.5-10 µm (microns or micrometers) in diameter) and “fine particles” (PM2.5 – 2.5 µm and smaller in diameter). Particulates can be emitted directly from a source or formed in the atmosphere by transformation of gaseous emissions. Sources can include industrial emissions, engine emissions, and particulate breakdown from traffic, soil erosion, and pollen.