New Water Management Paradigm
Content Table
This article presents key ideas incorporated into the new water management paradigm. Goen Ho and his colleagues from Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia describe the shift from siloed, linear, and centralized infrastructure, which is wasteful and disruptive, to closed-loop water, energy, and nutrient infrastructure. Ho also describes a sustainability rating system for green builders in Australia, which incorporates goals for a lighter water footprint. Cori Barraclough and Patrick Lucey, from Aqua-Tex Scientific Consulting in Victoria, Canada, elaborate further on case studies for green development and closed-loop systems.
Sustainability Rating For Decentralised Water Systems
Goen Ho, Martin Anda, John Hunt
Decentralised water systems can readily contribute towards water environmental sustainability. It is important to be able to rate environmental sustainability of decentralised systems so that home buyers can have confidence on claims of water sustainability, builders can have guidance on how to improve sustainability, land developers can justify their marketing claims and regulators can assess and regulate promotion of water sustainability of decentralised water systems. The Environmental Technology Centre has developed a rating tool for such a purpose. The rating tool quantifies the volumes of water drawn from all sources and wastewater disposed or reused through all routes, compares these with best practice water use volumes for a decentralised system and arrives at a score out of 10 (equivalent to best practice). The algorithm for the rating tool is implemented using Excel workbook/ worksheets prompting users to enter required input values. Application to four case studies is presented.
Green Development and Closed-Loop Water Systems: A Restoration Economy Approach to Urban Watershed Regeneration
Cori L. Barraclough, Wm. Patrick Lucey
Natural systems operate in closed loops where water, energy and nutrients are constantly recycled and reused close to source. Modern infrastructure opens these loops and creates largely one-way open-flow systems. This has led to the simplification of the water and energy flows, a loss of ecological function, and a loss of ecological and economic value. In order to restore ecological function, and once again derive value from ecological services, we must restore the complexity of our urban ecosystems; in particular, the micro water cycles. Regeneration is especially critical in the face of a changing climate, because healthy ecosystems have the resilience to buffer communities from extreme weather events. While the cost of regenerating function may appear prohibitive, it can be accomplished simultaneously with development. This paper summarizes four case studies in Victoria, BC, Canada, that demonstrate how new and redevelopment projects can be used to restore ecological function and derive considerable value for the developer and the community without additional funds.
Resources
This article is an extract from the report, Sustainability and International Innovation, by Valerie I. Nelson, Jerry Stonebridge and Steve Modemeyer
This report presents updated work from eight of the key speakers at the 2007 international conference Water for All Life: A Decentralized Infrastructure for a Sustainable Future. Each chapter represents a major thread in the new fabric of understanding of water sustainability that became embodied in the Baltimore Charter which was drafted following the conference. In addition to chapters on a new water management paradigm, new technologies and tools for sustainability, and institutions and barriers, the report includes a chapter on eco-cities as well as resource directory of international experts. A final chapter is included on prospects for innovation in the United States.
