ANACORTES — At first glance, it looked like someone had installed an abstract fountain in the Anacortes City Council chambers.

But a closer look showed the water feature was something more intriguing — a display showing a steady stream of water flowing straight through cement bricks and into a layer of gravel below.

The bricks, which look like giant Rice Krispies treats, were pervious or porous concrete. The free-flowing water explained how the material works better than a thousand words.

John Campbell, sales manager for Lehigh Northwest Cement Company, was there recently with the display to make the Anacortes City Council an offer it couldn’t refuse: Free installation of the environmentally friendly material during construction of Pennsylvania Park this summer.

“It’s a great offer and I think it’ll be a good way to look at that product and watch how it performs. It does appear to have a lot of potential,” said Anacortes Parks and Recreation Department Director Gary Robinson.

Pervious concrete is a sustainable material designed to protect and enhance the environment. Instead of being diverted into a sewer system, stormwater travels straight through the pavement and recharges into the groundwater. Pervious paving is a common low-impact development technique recommended by Puget Sound Partnership to more efficiently and effectively manage stormwater and protect water resources.

Campbell said the porous pavement has proven itself over the course of 20 years at such sites as Qwest Field and Husky Stadium. This year the Swinomish Tribe will try out the technique by repaving and expanding the Northern Lights Casino’s parking lot with a pervious material as part of a facility upgrade.

“We’re experimenting with the porous paving because it promises enhanced management of stormwater by allowing it to percolate into the soil on site, rather than requiring conveyance off site. We’ve visited a couple locations using the system — the new Target in Smokey Point installed this system — and look forward to see how it will perform,” said Swinomish attorney Marty Loesch. “If the system meets our objectives for durability, operational costs and environmental benefits, we’d certainly consider using it in future projects.”

Pervious concrete drains water at a rate of up to eight gallons per square foot per minute — “Everything short of a tidal wave,” Campbell said.

Water moves through the porous surface too quickly to freeze, even in Montana and Idaho, he said. It can be vacuumed or pressure washed to keep it unclogged. And an added bonus for some is the rough texture.

“Skateboarders hate it,” Campbell said.

Don Measamer of the Anacortes Building Department said enough pervious cement will be donated to build the planned sport court at Pennsylvania Park. Lehigh will use the opportunity to introduce the product to local builders.

“It’ll be used as a training experience for local contractors and city staff,” Measamer said.

Measamer asked Campbell to speak to the City Council after he heard about low-impact development techniques at Puget Sound Partnership presentations. Campbell contacted local suppliers, who agreed to donate 10 or 11 yards of concrete to the Anacortes park.

“The rest of it the city may well purchase. That’s what I’m recommending,” Measamer said.

The surface should work particularly well near wetlands.

“It won’t change the hydrology of the area,” Robinson said.

In large projects, he said builders sometimes have to direct storm water to where they think it should go.

“You’re guessing what’s happening under the ground. With the pervious surface you don’t have to guess,” Robinson said.

The material is durable. It is widely used in parking lots and Lehigh promotional materials picture a loaded cement truck on a week-old 12-inch pad of pervious concrete.

To make the substance, coarse aggregate particles are coated with a cement and water paste that bonds particles at their contact points, according to the company’s Web site. The resulting concrete has an “in-place void structure of about 20 percent” or gaps that allow storm water to drain through it to the gravel base below.

Campbell said the material is more expensive than ordinary cement, but many developers prefer it because they can install fewer pipes and other stormwater management devices, and often are able reduce or eliminate bioswales and detention ponds.

“Initially it costs about one-third more, but there’s a tradeoff in stormwater retention,” he said. “Some developers get one or two more lots.”