Issue 1, 2016

Survey of green building water systems reveals elevated water age and water quality concerns

Abstract

Widespread adoption of innovative water conservation strategies has potential unintended consequences for aesthetics and public health. A cross-section of green buildings were surveyed and compared to typical conventional buildings in terms of water retention time (i.e., water age), water chemistry, and levels of opportunistic pathogen genetic markers. Water age was estimated to be 2–6.7 months in an off-grid office, an average of 8 days in a Leadership in Environmental Engineering Design certified healthcare suite, and was increased to 2.7 days from 1 day due to installation of a solar “pre-heat” water tank in a net-zero energy house. Chlorine and chloramine residuals were often completely absent in the green building systems, decaying up to 144 times faster in premise plumbing with high water age when compared to distribution system water. Concentration of 16S rRNA and opportunistic pathogen genus level genetic markers were 1–4 orders of magnitude higher in green versus conventional buildings. This study raises concerns with respect to current green water system practices and the importance of considering potential public health impacts in the design of sustainable water systems.

Graphical abstract: Survey of green building water systems reveals elevated water age and water quality concerns

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
22 Sep 2015
Accepted
05 Nov 2015
First published
05 Nov 2015
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2016,2, 164-173

Survey of green building water systems reveals elevated water age and water quality concerns

W. J. Rhoads, A. Pruden and M. A. Edwards, Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2016, 2, 164 DOI: 10.1039/C5EW00221D

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