Bricks and Water report calls for mandatory reuse

(by Karma Loveday)

Water reuse should be mandated in new residential developments of 100+ properties and new commercial developments exceeding 500m². That’s among the recommendations in Bricks and water: building the case for water efficiency and reuse – the fifth instalment in the Bricks and Water series from cross-party think tank Policy Connect in partnership with the Westminster Sustainable Business Forum.

The report argued that without action, water scarcity will constrain housebuilding, jeopardise food security and undermine economic resilience. The recommendation on mandating reuse must, the document argued, be supported by necessary legislative and regulatory changes.

Other recommendations covered: 

• Water scarcity  – including the need for a National Water Strategy and accelerated development of small-scale storage schemes.

• Water efficiency –  including that there should be a single national standard in Building Regulations based on minimum product standards under the forthcoming Mandatory Water Labelling Scheme, resulting in consumption of 95 litres per person per day. Water companies should also be given greater metering powers, and non-household tariff trials should be conducted with any resulting revenue used to fund business grants for water efficiency and reuse infrastructure. The report follows a nine-month cross-party inquiry chaired by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering, alongside vice-chairs, Lee Pitcher MP and Dr Julia Buckley MP, and draws on evidence from the water, construction and housebuilding industries, public bodies, local authorities, non-governmental organisations and academia. 

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering said: “This is the fifth inquiry that I have Chaired in the Bricks and Water series, and it comes as the country faces a second successive summer of record-breaking heat. The inquiry has heard that our vital water resources in England are under unprecedented stress from climate change, new housing, and water-intensive industry. However, policy change needed to secure supply and reduce demand has been slow over the last decade, with the failure to legislate for the mandatory use of Sustainable Drainage Systems a case in point. The recommendations in this report to help improve water efficiency and accelerate water reuse are practical, deliverable, and urgent. The Government must now act on them.”