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An On the wire story
The UK’s largest planned water reuse system has been built in Cambridgeshire but remains switched off because it does not fit current drinking water rules, leaving a flagship scheme for one of England’s driest regions stranded despite years of planning.
The system at Eddington, a major mixed-use development on Cambridge’s north-western edge, was designed to capture rainwater, store it in a lagoon and recycle it for non-drinking uses such as toilet flushing. According to The Guardian, the project was ready in 2021 but has never been put into operation.
The blockage matters because water stress in the area is worsening. Cambridge and neighbouring parts of the east of England have been hit by hosepipe bans this summer as reservoirs fell, and the Environment Agency has warned of a potential daily water demand gap of 5bn litres in England by 2055 without urgent action.
Industry and regulator guidance both point to reuse as a practical way to reduce demand, with Ofwat describing water recycling as a route to a more drought-resilient supply and the Drinking Water Inspectorate saying any domestic supply must still meet wholesome-water standards.
At Eddington, the ambitions were considerable. Cambridge Water’s design aimed to cut consumption to about 80 litres per person per day, well below the roughly 140 litres used in England and Wales, by supplying recycled water for household uses that do not require drinking quality.
The broader scheme is intended to serve as many as 8,000 residents, students and workers as the neighbourhood is completed. But the DWI says the legal framework, rooted in the Water Industry Act 1991 and later water quality regulations, means water provided for domestic purposes must be wholesome, which has prevented the system from being activated.
Pressure is now building for ministers to change course. Labour has made the wider Greater Cambridgeshire area a growth priority and has publicly pointed to Eddington as an example of the sort of innovation it wants to encourage.
Last year, housing minister Matthew Pennycook promised to work with experts on switching the scheme on by 2026, while the DWI has since produced a framework recommending law reform to allow dual-use systems in homes and commercial buildings.
Cambridge Water says it is working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to resolve the legal restrictions and unlock the project’s savings.
The University of Cambridge has said the system could not be commissioned for homes on the Eddington scale without a change in law, while Defra says it wants to see rainwater recycling and grey water reuse adopted more widely and is reviewing the rules with the inspectorate.
For campaigners and developers, the stand-off has become a symbol of a larger problem: the technology exists, but the regulation has not yet caught up.
Inspired by headline at: The Guardian [1]
• This On the wire article was created using Noahwire AI and reviewed by CIBSE Journal’s editorial team
