Water reuse at the building level – Condminio di via Sassetti

By project AQUARES

Published on 07 May 2020

Italy

About this good practice

In front of the new building of the Region and next to the registry office of the municipality of Milan, the condominium of Via Sassetti has been renovated following the philosophy of energy saving reduction in potable water demand. Lombardy region is committed to water reuse; it foster the implementation of water reuse technologies in residential but also commercial and leisure buildings. Indeed, the nenewed BANDO TURISMO & ATTRATTIVITÀ II financially supports specific interventions: technologies for efficient water management and water saving, solutions for the reuse of rain water.
For Sassetti building, Redi S.p.a. has installed a recovery system of greywater (water from the shower, washbasins and bidets) and whitewater (rainwater from gutters) which reduces drinking water consumption. Through different levels of filtration and sterilization, water is returned to a state suitable for subsequent reuse, for example for garden irrigation or toilet flushing.
The technology guarantees a constant supply of recycled water without complicated operations and performance losses, as happens with other types of systems.

Expert opinion

In spite of touching upon the issue only incidentally, the impact assessment of the Water Reuse Regulation suggested that the installation of direct waste water reuse appliances in new residential buildings could be a valid option for achieving water savings and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This good practice proves that such appliances have become market ready thanks to European SMEs and that they generate measurable reductions in the consumption of drinking water. It can certainly inspire policy makers and public building managers, who could apply it in their own building stock. In addition, tendering bodies in the building sector could request bidders to propose water reuse systems in future calls for new projects.

Marco Citelli

Resources needed

The technology has been installed by Redi S.p.a., responsible of the project phase, installation phase and functioning phase.
The tratement system is compact, and pre-assembled in the factory.
The machine is designed for low maintenance and low operating costs.

Evidence of success

The technology allows to obtain a 50% reduction in drinking water consumption.
Buildings equipped with energy-saving systems maintain their value more over time. The current trend of real estate, in fact, sees a recovery in the prices of houses built in the energy class with new technologies. However, in Lombardy this is one of the few case (if not the only one) of water reuse at the building level.

Potential for learning or transfer

The introduction of recovery systems of greywater and whitewaters is in line with EU directives; boosting the implementation of these technologies at building level would contribute to achievement of water saving goals.
Water saving technologies can be applied in decentralized systems for both medium and small scale residential, commercial, leisure buildings; they are tailored solutions solutions which qualify as self- sustaining processes.
The spread of these still little used solutions would be facilitate by funding bid or regional policies targeting solutions for water reuse, as in the case of Lombardy Region.