The Water Sensitive City

This book advocates a more thoughtful approach to urban water management. The approach involves reducing water consumption, harvesting rainwater, recycling rainwater and adopting Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) where surface water is not sent straight to drains but is intercepted by features like green roofs, rain gardens, swales and ponds.Cities in particular need to change the existing linear model of water consumption and use to a more circular one in order to survive. The Water Sensitive City brings together the various specialised technical discussions that have been continuing for some time into a volume that is more accessible to designers (engineers and architects), urban planners and managers, and policymakers.

Keywords: water cycle, water sensitive city, sustainable drainage, biodiversity, sanitation, qanats, mohenjodaro, great stink, germ theory, cenotes, aquaduct, bazalgette, elan valley, owens valley, water footprint, water demand, snowmelt, reservoirs, dams, abstraction, aquifers, desalination, reverse osmosis, rainwater harvesting, climate change, carbon dioxide, greenhouse gases, callendar, keeling, stern, ipcc, sea level, drought, heatwaves, microclimate, heatwave, urban heat island, smog, air pollution, cool roofs, green roofs, living walls, street trees, convention on biological diversity, ecosystem approach, ecosystem services, riverfront, urban regeneration, river restoration, river wall, coastal resorts, sustainable urban drainage, low impact development, green roofs, permeable paving, tree pits, attenuation, detention, water meters, leaks, cistern displacement device, rainwater harvesting, dew catching, fog catching, newater, sewer mining, greywater, clean water act, water framework directive, urban runoff, non-point source, water quality, urban farming, green streets, blue-green infrastructure, smart city