Water Centric Sustainable Communities

Considered from the perspective of sustainability, water in the urban environment must be approached as a single resource that can be continuously reused and recycled. This book is the first to capture all of the current work on this idea in a single, integrated, plan for designing the water-centric cities of the future. The book that breaks new ground for creating water centric cities of the future Outdated water and wastewater practices in conjunction with increased consumption from a growing population have left today's urban communities perilously close to running dry—or ironically—being inundated with stormwater-related floods. Water Centric Sustainable Communities departs from the traditional "clean water in, dirty water out" approach to establish a holistic paradigm for integrated water conservation and use in cities by embracing the three r's: reduce, reuse, recycle. This book provides the forum for lively discussion on the social concerns, technological challenges, planning issues, and economic woes putting up barriers to the reality of achieving a sustainable urban environment—and presents expert suggestions for overcoming them. Water Centric Sustainable Communities: Includes case studies of successful implementations from cities around the world Explores the history of urban water, stormwater, and wastewater management Discusses not only newly planned and constructed infrastructure, but also the retrofit and upgrading of existing infrastructure Offers new methods to integrate the new water paradigm with urban planning and design Provides guidance on connecting microscale components (green roofs, pervious pavements, stream restoration and daylighting, riparian zone design, water reclamation and reuse, drainage, energy) in a distributed macroscale sustainable water ecosystem The first book to combine landscape, water management, transportation, infrastructure, and triple bottom line assessment into one integrated system, Water Centric Sustainable Communities is inspired in its mission to avoid an unthinkable ecological catastrophe. It offers an eye-opening reminder of how today's actions can have a profound impact on tomorrow's survival by stressing the importance of stabilizing the Earth's water and energy supply now—to keep it sustainably flowing into the future. The current literature compartmentalizes the complex issue of water and wastewater into its discrete components; technology, planning, policy, construction, economics, etc. Considered from the perspective of sustainability, however, water in the urban environment must be approached as a single resource that can be continuously reused and recycled. This book will be the first to capture all of the current work on this idea in a single, integrated, plan for designing the water-centric cities of the future. From new construction to the retrofitting of existing systems, this book presents the case for a new urban relationship to water, one with a more sustainable connection to the environment and the hydrological cycle. Through case studies of successfully planned and built systems around the world, the book will educate the reader about the need for a new approach to urban water management, and make the case that these changes are not only possible but imperative.