Events Calendar

Took place on Friday February 29 2008

Sustainable Water Workshop

The draft targets for water are:

Reduce household water consumption by 50% of the Sutton average, so from 434 litres per household per day to 217 litres by 2020.

Retrofit all homes in the flood risk area for climate change mitigation and adaptation by 2025.

Water run off targets for some areas

Reduction in annual number of people (or refuse planning permission) paving over front gardens

This workshop was led by Liz Darley, BioRegional Consulting Ltd and attended by local residents and water experts including Sutton and East Surrey Water.

Discussion 1 (15 mins)
What can we do to reduce...
Water consumption in the home?
Water consumption in the workplace?
Surface water run off and flooding?

Feedback

Discussion 2 (15 mins)
What can individuals do?
What can businesses do?
What can the council do?
Thinking about strategies, funding, who can lead, support required etc.

The following actions were identified:

Action 6.1 Encourage Sutton residents to request water meters as this typically results in a 5% saving.
Responsibility Sutton and East Surrey Water
Progress Sutton and East Surrey Water already put in water meters at change of occupancy and aim to have all homes on meters by 2030. BioRegional have promoted on the One Planet Living in Sutton website.

Action 6.2 Put graphs on water bills so residents can easily see consumption patterns.
Responsibility Sutton and East Surrey Water
Progress Sutton and East Surrey Water are already investigating how they can do this.

Action 6.3 Get more people to install water saving hippos and save-a-flush devices in their toilets. Toilets use approximately 1/3 of water in our homes and 2/3rds of water in offices. These devices save a litre or more for each flush. Not suitable for toilets made from 2001.
Responsibility Sutton and East Surrey Water, BioRegional, all residents and businesses
Progress Already available free from Sutton and East Surrey Water and Thames Water. BioRegional to fit as part of out One Planet Living home visits in March 2008. Have promoted on the One Planet Living in Sutton website.

Action 6.4 Encourage people to fit tap flow regulators, water saving shower heads and dual flush retrofit devices.
Responsibility Sutton and East Surrey Water and BioRegional as part of One Planet Living renovations of our housing stock for water and energy efficiency. Sutton Housing Partnership plumbers could also fit these when they visit homes.
Progress Sutton and East Surrey Water are training BioRegional to fit flow regulators and together we will implement a renovation programme.

Action 6.5 Encourage everyone with a garden or a yard to get a water butt. Flooding from overflowing drains is a big problem in Hackbridge so reducing the amount of rainwater entering the drains will be hugely beneficial, having a water butt reduces water consumption too, and rainwater is better for plants than tap water - good all round!
Responsibility Householders, BioRegional and Sutton and East Surrey
Progress Sutton and East Surrey already offer discounted water butts and BioRegional are encouraging people to get them through www.oneplanetsutton.org and through our home visits.

Action 6.6 Train plumbers in fitting sustainable water solutions like rainwater harvesting and flow reducers.
Responsibility Local schools and colleges and perhaps involving Parity Projects (they already train builders). BPEC also run ‘train the trainer' courses in rainwater harvesting but they have no venues in London so far.

Action 6.7 Remind workplaces to check the batteries in their urinal controls (many of them
Responsibility BioRegional/ Sutton and East Surrey to do as part of water saving advice.

Action 6.8 Look into the possibility of introducing grey water or rainwater for vehicle washing at Felnex and Restmor Way
Responsibility The site owners/ developers and businesses there.

Action 6.9 There is still considerable flooding from road drains, both the London Road and the Felnex estate were identified as suffering particularly badly! We need to improve the drains and slow down the peak flow by providing green surfaces instead of hard, and re-using the rainwater where possible.
Responsibility Thames Water and Sutton Council responsible for road drains. The responsibility for providing rainwater harvesting and more absorbent surfaces rests with site owners, developers and Sutton's planning team. New development should make use of porous paving, green roofs etc
Progress Wandle Valley Ward Councillor John Drage has offered to take up this issue with Thames Water.

Action 6.10 Stop people paving over front gardens
Responsibility Sutton planning team (paving over gardens requires planning permission).
Progress DEFRA hope to change to existing rules so that planning permission is not required for paving front gardens provided porous materials are used." Announcing the rules on paving front gardens, the environment minister, Phil Woolas, said that over the last 10 years Londoners alone had paved over the equivalent of 22 Hyde Parks, forcing more water "runoff" into the sewer system."

Action 6.11 Promote water for leisure, particularly the Wandle and the concrete culverts that feed clean sewage outfall back into the Wandle. These could be broken up and made more attractive.
Responsibility Thames Water, Wandle Forum, landowners

Contact: jessica@oneplanetsutton.org

Type of event: One Planet Living

Related principles: Sustainable Water

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