Nobody wants to own the pipes

Every conversation about water smart development eventually arrives at the same question, and it is never the one people expect. It is not whether greywater reuse works, or what rainwater harvesting costs. It is: who owns this in thirty years?

The question that gets deferred

Across three demonstrator developments, we watched the same pattern. Technical design progressed quickly. Cost modelling progressed quickly. The stewardship question — who holds the asset, who maintains it, who pays when it needs replacing — moved slowly, and often not at all, until it became urgent.

By then the masterplan was fixed. The pipe runs were set. The options that remained were the expensive ones.

Why it is hard

A community water system does not fit the structures we have. It is too small for a water company to adopt without a clear regulatory route. It is too technical for a residents' management company to run unsupported. It is too long-lived for a developer to hold beyond the sales period.

Different ownership routes suit different developments, and none of them removes the need to decide early.

The model matters less than deciding it early.

What we would tell a developer starting now

Answer the stewardship question in the same meeting where you set the water ambition. Not the meeting after. The decision determines what infrastructure is worth building, and building infrastructure before you know who will run it is how good schemes become stranded assets.

Read more

The Resource Hub gathers guidance on ownership, adoption and maintenance from EWSC and across the sector.