Water Efficiency: The Next Generation

This paper from 1998 describes different technical methods by which households can save money and save water. These methods include low-flow toilets, low-flow faucets and showerheads, graywater systems that funnel water from homes for use in landscaping or flushing toilets, composting toilets, smarter water meters that provide feedback to customers, the use of native plants that require less water than non-native varieties, and rainwater collection systems. A description of each method is provided.

Valuing Decentralized Wastewater Technologies: A Catalog of Benefits, Costs, and Economic Analysis Techniques

The purpose of this report, which was prepared for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is to present a catalog of the economic advantages and disadvantages of decentralized wastewater systems relative to larger scale solutions, in order to inform wastewater facility planning and assist communities in making better choices among their many technology options. To this end, this study attempts to compile and summarize what is known about the comparative benefits and costs of various aspects of centralized and decentralized systems. It also reveals and discusses the many issues that should be addressed when site-specific wastewater facility plans are prepared, as an annotated check-list that will help engineers, planners, and other professionals facilitate a more informed discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of various system options for the communities they serve.

Case Studies of Economic Analysis and Community Decision Making for Decentralized Wastewater Systems

This report was submitted to the National Decentralized Water Resources Capacity Development Project. It examines how communities consider and value the benefits and costs of different scale wastewater facility options (onsite, cluster, and centralized options) in monetary or other terms, and examines the driving issues, motivations, thought processes, and decision-making methods of stakeholders relative to choices of wastewater system scale. Case studies of eight US communities cover seven topics that have received little attention in the literature to date. These include: financial benefits of incremental capacity expansion through implementation of decentralized systems; impacts of wastewater system choices on community growth, development, and autonomy; implications for fairness and equity within communities; how communities evaluate the performance and reliability of wastewater systems; how wastewater system planning affects relationships in a community and how relationships and trust affect wastewater decision making; hydrologic impacts of wastewater systems; and the value of decentralized systems to sanitation utilities that already manage large centralized systems. The case studies examine how each community evaluated the topical issue in the wastewater facility decision making process, or in some cases how the issue came up after wastewater facility decisions were made. The report also includes an analysis for a hypothetical community of the financial benefits of incremental capacity expansion using decentralized systems compared to periodic large-scale investments in centralized capacity.

North Central Arizona Water Demand Study

This report describes the situation of water resource stakeholders in the Coconino Plateau and the issues of how to provide sufficient water for current and future needs. Recent droughts, environmental concerns, population and economic growth all raise concerns over the adequacy of water supplies. Conservation and alternative supplies such as wastewater reclamation are important water management strategies in local communities, but have received little attention at the regional level to date. The North Central Arizona Water Demand Study, Phase I, contributes to the discussion by reviewing how water is currently provided and used for residential, commercial, municipal, and industrial purposes on non-reservation lands of the Coconino Plateau, in the area roughly bounded on the south by the Mogollon Rim, on the north by the Colorado River, on the west by the Aubrey Cliffs, and on the east by the communities of Winona toward the south and Page to the north. This report also describes and evaluates water conservation activities in the study area, and summarizes current and anticipated implementation of alternative supply systems. It sets out a recommended water demand forecasting methodology for a future study.

Daylighting: New Life for Buried Streams

This report describes the process of daylighting streams. Daylighting describes projects that deliberately expose some or all of the flow of a previously covered river, creek, or stormwater drainage. Daylighting projects liberate waterways that were buried in culverts or pipes, covered by decks, or otherwise removed from view. Daylighting re-establishes a waterway in its old channel where feasible, or in a new channel threaded between the buildings, streets, parking lots, and playing fields now present on the land. Some daylighting projects recreate wetlands, ponds, or estuaries. This report explains the benefits and challenges of daylighting. It shows the range of daylighting projects that have been completed or are under serious consideration; illustrates how some projects have been designed, facilitated, and funded; and identifies some of the challenges encountered and lessons learned. Eighteen detailed case studies are presented.

Reevaluating Stormwater: The Nine Mile Run Model for Restorative Development

This report presents a model for resolving a history of chronic sewer overflows into the public streets, parks, and waters of the Pittsburgh region, while simultaneously restoring and revitalizing the regions urban communities and watersheds. The model uses physical measures that remove stormwater from sewers and produce additional benefits such as beautificaion of neighborhoods, creation of public recreational amenities, support of wildlife habitat, cleaning and cooling of urban air. The report describes the collaborative process of developing this model. The authors show how low-cost, multi-benefit stormwater management measures, incorporated into retrofit programs and redevelopment projects, can reduce sewer overflows, restore urban watersheds, and revitalize communities. The results of the work illustrate a restorative development approach to the sewers, ecosystem, and communities, showing that retrofit and redevelopment projects that are technically and economically feasible can improve the value and livability of the city while effectively restoring the watershed’s natural functions.

Technical Appendix to Reevaluating Stormwater

This technical appendix was written in conjunction with the report, "Reevaluating Stormwater," from the Pittsburgh Charrette. The appendix includes information about the charrette process as well as supporting information, documentation, and data that was used in the Pittsburgh Charrette. The purpose of the charrette was to address the problems associated with wet weather in the Pittsburgh region and to consider the form and function of infrastructure within the urban ecosystem.

21st Century Water Systems: Scenarios, Visions, and Drivers

This paper explains the developments that will affect the form, function, efficacy, and ownership of water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure in the future. The conclusions are based on four hypothetical scenarios of the relationship between the strength of the federal government's role and the financial environment. The scenarios present four thought-provoking narrative images of water systems in the year 2010.

Water 2010: Four Scenarios for 21st Century Water Systems

This report examines the challenges and uncertainties facing municipal water systems in 1996. The authors developed several hypothetical scenarios to envision what water systems will look like in 2010. The scenarios can be used as learning tools for people considering the future of water systems. The scenarios include a mandate from the federal government; a situation in which the federal government and financial infrastructure are weak, which in turn weaken the availability and safety of water; a dominant and highly regulatory federal government and strong financial environment; and a situation with a weak federal presence but supportive financial environment. These hypothetical scenarios can be useful to planners, managers, citizens, and policy makers.