Water covers about 70% of the earth's surface but only 1% of that water is clean and suitable for drinking. That is why water is so important. However, because in most countries clean water can be accessed very easily, people usually take it for granted and have little or no concern for its availability. An average person in the United Kingdom uses about 150 litres of water per day and the demand keeps on rising by 1% every year since 1930. In a typical UK household the average use of water is 275 litres of which two thirds are used in the bathroom, either for flushing the toilet or for baths/showers (Save The Rain). Moreover, it is estimated that an office demands about 62 litres of water per head of which, around 63% is intended for uses such as toilet flushing. According to an article by Guardian, the consumption of water per UK citizen increases when "hidden factors are included" (meaning the production of food and clothing) to 4,645 litres (Felicity, 2008). The above, along with the fact that UK has less available water per person compared to most other European countries, means the situation is very bad for the UK and explains why communities and governments are concerned with water efficiency. Additionally, during 2007-2008, about 3 billion litres of water per day were wasted (figure includes Wales) due to leakages. This accounts for one fifth of the total distribution. However, the percentage has fallen by 35% since 1990-1994 and 1999-2000 but it has remained constant since then. In addition, in 2008 there were 723 serious pollution incidents that affected water, as well as land and air. About 10% of these incidents were caused by the sewage and water industries. (DEFRA, 2009) It can be seen that most of the clean/drinkable water used, is for purposes where grey-water and/or rainwater can be used and also, a percentage is lost due to leakages. This is why water efficiency is a key priority for communities and local governments.

The built environment plays a key role to water efficiency. As areas get more urbanised, the water demand increases, especially during hot periods when water is limited. This, over the time has led to the creation of an artificial water cycle which affects the local drainage pattern and other hy...

-1994 -2000 -2008 /uploads/br/br_pdf_draftadg_2009.pdf /water-saving-tips/water-facts.aspx 04 1 1.0 10 12 12.5 120 125 13 15 150 19 1930 1984 1990 1999 2 20 2000 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 275 3 35 38 4 5 5064 6 62 63 645 7.5 70 723 8 80 9 access accord account achiev act addit adopt affect aim air al along alreadi also although among amount and/or annual anonym appli applianc approv area argu around articl artifici aspect assess assessor attempt august avail averag award away bad base basic bathroom baths/showers becom bes better bibliographi billion blackwel block borehol bottom bre breaam breeam broader brodi build built calcul carbon carter categori caus certif citizen clean clean/drinkable cloth code collect come communiti compar complex compli compulsori concern conclud consid constant construct consum consumpt contact contribut conveni cooper could countri cover creation credit crown crucial cycl d damag day deal defra demand depart depend despit detach detect develop differ dioxid distinguish distribut document dr draft drainag drink due dwell e earlier earth easili eco eco-expertis eco-hom ecohom ecolog effect effici efficieni either element emit encourag energi enough ensur environ environment equal especi essay establish estim et european even everi everyon exampl exceed except exist expertis explain extern face fact factor fallen featur felic fifth figur final first fit five fix flood flush follow food form g get give global govern grant grey grey-wat grover guardian guid guidelin h harmer head health henc hidden highfield highlight home hot hous household howev human hydrolog identifi ieem impact import impress improv incid includ increas inde independ indirect individu indoor industri instal institut intend intern involv irrig issu januari judgement keep key kingdom know l land largest leak leakag least lectur led legal less licens like limit list litr littl local london lost made major manag mandatori mani manual massiv materi mayb mean mention meter method minim minimum moreov multi multi-residenti multipli n.d name nation natur need net new note nottingham obtain occup octob offic one order outdoor overal part pattern peopl per percentag perform period person plane play pleas pocket pollut portal possibl post potabl pre pre-assess predict prescript prevent prioriti product profession project prove provid provis publish purpos qualiti r rain rainfal rainwat rate recognis recycl reduc refer region regul relat remain requir research residenti resourc respect rest retriev reveal revis reward richard rise risk role runoff safeti samuel sanit sanitari sarah save say scale scheme score second section seen semi semi-detach serious set sewag shortag shut shut-off signific sinc situat six sixth small soak somehow sourc standard state studi sub sub-sect success suggest suitabl suppli surfac survey sustain system tabl take technic texa third thus time toilet total transport treat tri turn two typic uk uniqu unit univers updat urbanis usa use usual vedlitz version voluntari w wale wast water way weight welfar well wellb whether wholesom without world worst worthless www.planningportal.gov.uk www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/br_pdf_draftadg_2009.pdf www.savetherain.info www.savetherain.info/water-saving-tips/water-facts.aspx year yet zahran