Original title: Water Neutrality at NAV Sites
Competition: Breakthrough 1
Funding amount: £2,898,000
Led by: Affinity Water
Partners: Albion Water Limited, Aquality Trading & Consulting Ltd, BUUK Infrastructure UK No 2 Ltd, Grapviners Ltd, H2OiQ Ltd, Hydraloop International, Propelair – Phoenix Product Development Ltd, SDS Ltd, Skewb.
Project Completion date: June 2028
Water cycle tag: Customer and Communities
See project updates on the Project Zero website.
This project will deliver a sustainable, water-saving solution in response to new housing developments being built. Winning £2.9 million, this project will minimise water demand and offset water consumption with new technologies, to ensure the total water use in the community remains the same as it was before the new homes were built. We will manage the usage and offset requirements across three sites by installing water saving devices in residential properties – shower heads, tap inserts and larger infrastructure such as greywater recycling and rainwater harvesting units. This will minimise demand in customers’ homes. We will also install larger technologies on commercial buildings like schools and leisure centres – for example greywater recycling and ultra low flush toilets. This will offset customer usage and maintain existing baseline network demand. We will also be monitoring at a detailed level the patterns and trends of usage. This will allow us to adopt an open-data approach and share anonymised insights in water usage with the wider innovation market.
Project Zero continues to progress well, Phase 3 of the project which explores a hybrid solution for water neutrality has had the planning submission sent including the requirements for a communal based water reuse system. Collaborative engagement with the lead developer to discuss and align delivery programmes is in progress alongside understanding risks to the programme associated with the planning process. To support the phase 3 alongside providing valuable insights for upcoming Building Regulations consultations we have commissioned a desktop study on a dual network development comprising potable and non-potable water. This will explore the benefits, impacts, and performance of a rainwater harvesting system.
For more information on Project Zero, take a look at the following resources:
