Communities and Local Government highlight water efficiency as a key priority. Why is water efficiency a concern and what are the broader impacts of the built environment on water management? How effectively does BREEAM assess water related issues?

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Water covers about 70% of the earth's surface but only 1% of that water is clean and suitable for drinking. That is why water is so important. However, because in most countries clean water can be accessed very easily, people usually take it for granted and have little or no concern for its availability. An average person in the United Kingdom uses about 150 litres of water per day and the demand keeps on rising by 1% every year since 1930. In a typical UK household the average use of water is 275 litres of which two thirds are used in the bathroom, either for flushing the toilet or for baths/showers (Save The Rain). Moreover, it is estimated that an office demands about 62 litres of water per head of which, around 63% is intended for uses such as toilet flushing. According to an article by Guardian, the consumption of water per UK citizen increases when "hidden factors are included" (meaning the production of food and clothing) to 4,645 litres (Felicity, 2008). The above, along with the fact that UK has less available water per person compared to most other European countries, means the situation is very bad for the