Newsletter
How Much Water Does The Built Environment Use?
Fifth Wall Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/fifthwall/buildings-get-smarter-about-wastewater
All together, the commercial and institutional real estate sector is the second largest consumer of public water in the U.S., according to the EPA.
Of course, water is needed to construct and run buildings, communities, and cities. Though sustainability will become even more important as the climate crisis exacerbates droughts and puts more pressure on reservoirs. Water usage is increasing which could lead to a 40% global water deficit by 2030, according to a McKinsey report.
Water conservation is crucial for the bottom line, too.
Excessive water use can get expensive, especially for data center cooling systems. And the lack of municipal water can halt construction, too. So how can buildings operate in a more efficient way? One city leading the way is focused on extreme water recycling.
In 2015, San Francisco passed legislation that would require all new buildings of more than 100,000 square feet to have onsite water recycling systems. So for example, water from the sink could be reused for landscaping—it reduces the need to get water directly from the city (and the cost of doing so).
- The headquarters of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has a water recycling system that reduces its imported potable supply by 40 percent.
- By 2040, San Francisco says, its Onsite Water Reuse program will save 1.3 million gallons of potable water each day.
Some buildings are getting creative: Would you drink a beer made from an apartment building’s recycled water used in showers and washing machines? Epic Cleantec, a maker of onsite water recycling systems, crafted such a beverage.
New water tech: The Arizona-based startup, Source Water, builds hydropanels that are able to pull water right out of the air. Think of it like a mini water plant: Solar panels pull in water vapor which flows into a reservoir beneath the panel and then gets pumped straight to the tap.
- Tech like this doesn’t depend on a centralized water source, which also means access to water doesn’t depend on public infrastructure that can take a long time to fund and build.
- This is crucial for rural communities in Texas—some of which are already using Source hydropanels. And could be a solution for unincorporated towns that don’t have proper infrastructure or count on other municipalities for water (as Rio Verde in Arizona knows that isn’t exactly reliable).
