Urban Housing Alternative Approach to Provision of Water & Wastewater Infrastructure

Annual Conference

There has been much in the press in recent years about the provision of new infrastructure being a significant constraint to growth in major New Zealand cities, notably Auckland. There have been frequent outcries for government or council funding of this necessary bulk infrastructure to open up further areas for residential and commercial development to accommodate the demand for housing and industry/commerce.

In many cases, the provision of water and wastewater infrastructure has been challenging, especially for the development of special housing areas (SHA’s) and other areas earmarked for development. While the arguments about equitable funding for this infrastructure run thick and fast, there are examples where alternative approaches have yielded more sustainable and fairer outcomes.

The government’s recent billion-dollar housing fund offers some assistance, but only in certain high profile areas.

There are innovative, sustainable technologies for providing water and wastewater infrastructure, including water reduction techniques, alternative wastewater systems, smart sewers (reduced I&I) and wastewater reuse. These alternatives can lead to significant benefits all across New Zealand.

Some developers have expressed a desire to be proactive to develop alternative and innovative water and wastewater infrastructure solutions. The current New Zealand planning and regulatory framework does not favour such initiatives and there appears to be reluctance to depart from traditional approaches.

Yet the potential benefits are large, not only in terms of reduced infrastructure costs, but also reduced loads downstream infrastructure.

Is it time to re-think our traditional approach to peak flows for new developments – is a per capita peak flow really still applicable to modern developments. It may be appropriate for different rules to apply to greenfield high-density developments than for traditional developments with medium size lots. Many new developments are multi-storey or high density, with less infrastructure in the ground per person than with traditional developments.

Conference Papers

11.30 Urban Housing Alternative Approach to Provision of Water & Wastewater Infrastructure.pdf

pdf
930 KB
06 Nov 2017

11.30am G Pederson.pdf

pdf
6 MB
06 Nov 2017