EWSC publishes report investigating costs of water reuse
Clay Farm Housing Development, Cambridge. Image credit: Aquality Trading & Consulting Ltd
Hot off the press: report investigating costs of water reuse
The Enabling Water Smart Communities (EWSC) project has just released a report exploring the costs of water reuse installations - for greywater and stormwater reuse, at community scale and for individual plots.
We are not aware of any similar study being done for the UK in recent years.
The report presents capital costs for external pipework, storage and treatment equipment, and internal pipework.
These costs were sought from appropriate providers including treatment equipment suppliers, water companies, self-lay pipework providers, and plumbing contractors.
Despite a small sample size, the range of costs received demonstrates that reuse is a credible approach to significantly reducing average household water consumption and increasing resilience – particularly where councils are challenged by water stress.
Findings indicate that:
Community-scale stormwater reuse is the most cost-effective, even for smaller sized developments of 40-50 homes.
By comparison, greywater reuse is more expensive, but more data is needed to reduce uncertainties.
There is a significant fall in costs with development size up to around 100 units.
Higher density development sites yield lower costs.
This report represents a first step to fully understanding the costs of community water reuse; further work is needed to:
Refine costs ranges and provider greater certainty through engaging a wider pool of product suppliers and supply chain contractors.
Understand ways in which costs of community-scale reuse might be reduced, for example by optimising drainage design at site level to capture water for reuse.
Investigate the operation and maintenance costs of reuse, and compare total costs with alternative options for achieving water resource resilience.
To read the full report, click here and look under ‘Project Outputs’.