'Grey' water to be used in new homes

6:14am Wednesday 31st May 2006

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Recycled sewage water will be used in new homes across London under the mayor's radical plans to fight climate change.

According to the London Plan - a 400-page document that will guide the city's development over the next 20 years - new buildings must use dual water systems of both purified and recycled, or "grey", water.

Water companies have so far believed "we won't like to drink water that's been passed through somebody else", mayor Ken Livingstone said.

"But all the water on the face of the planet had been passed thourgh dozens of people over millennia."

Deputy mayor Nicky Gavron added that people drank only 2% of all purified water. "We don't need to purify so much water.

"Water is a very big consumer of energy ... just think of all the pumping and the purifying."

Steps to limit the amount of purified water going into homes would save energy, she added.

Create own energy

New buildings will also have to cut their emissions by 20% by creating their own energy with solar panels or wind turbines.

The mayor wants to cut energy loss from central power stations by decentralising production.

Almost two thirds of the power created at both coal and nuclear plants are lost through heat, Mr Livingstone said. Another 9% dwindles away during transmission. Less than 30% ultimately reaches the home.

"We must move our cities away from relying on inefficient centralised heat and power generation, and stop constructing buildings that waste heat and electricity," the mayor said.

The reviewed London Plan, published on Tuesday, also sets tough new targets to curb carbon emissions. It requires a 20% reduction over the next decade, plus a long-term cutback of 60% by 2050.

About three quarters of London's emissions come from buildings - mainly heating - while transport accounts for 21%.

But Tony Arbour, chair of the London Assembly's planning committee, said the mayor's plans were "too green to be true".

Greener buildings would also cost more, he warned. Cheaper housing would be "less affordable and scarcer".

The public can comment on the reviewed London Plan until autumn this year. After a public inquiry next year, the final plan will be published early in 2008.