What is water neutrality?
Water Neutrality focuses on reducing development’s water footprint. ‘Water Neutral’ reduces the water footprint of an activity as much as possible and offsets the negative externalities of the remaining water by using methods such as water reuse and offset.
How do we assess water neutrality?
Water neutrality can be achieved following three stages.
- Reducing water usage by making the proposed development as water efficient as possible
- Use of water recycling systems, such as rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling
- Offsetting any remaining demand within the existing local region
We assess existing water usage and post-development using a mixture of meter readings, BS 8542:2001 Calculating domestic water consumption in non-domestic buildings, BREEAM WAT 01 Water Calculations and Part G Water Calculations for dwellings.
Why do I need to prove my site is water neutral?
Water Neutrality is not currently defined in legislation, but due to water stress in a number of regions across the United Kingdom, every new development in a water-stressed area is required to prove that the total water use in the region after the development is equal to or less than total water usage in the region before the new development.
What else you might want to know…
We are experienced in responding to Naturals England and Local Planning Authority water neutrality requirements. If you’d like to understand a little more about how the process works, give us a call or send me an email.
