A key driver in building green environmentally-rated buildings is to enable the re-use of rain, grey and black water by designing the piping systems in conjunction with a decentralised water treatment system.

As cities become denser and more vertical, the availability of clean water is increasingly an issue. A water management system is a critical sustainable-building component. The quantity of wastewater produced by these vertical cities can also place additional strain on existing infrastructures, which reinforces the need for decentralised wastewater treatment.

This opens up the opportunity for high-rise developers to move towards the industrial standard of zero-liquid discharge, with tall buildings playing a role in ensuring water availability by reducing their water footprint. In fact, a typical high-rise building can save up to 40% of water by specifying efficient water fixtures. And treating water to re-use it for flushing toilets, irrigation or air conditioning can result in a savings of up to 50 % in potable water use.