Water management

The aim of the project is to reduce water consumption in buildings owned by the region or its organizations. The goal can be achieved by gradually equipping these buildings with smart technologies and the associated introduction of systematic management for water management.

A full-fledged solution for drinking water savings, use and recycling of rainwater and waste water has not yet been tested in the buildings owned by Liberec Region. There is also a lack of projects aimed at building the so-called blue-green infrastructure (a network of natural or artificial elements built to capture water and purify it or further use it in the urban landscape).

The project aims at changing this situation and achieving better management of water as a scarce resource. This means, for example, the use of expensively treated drinking water only for the purpose for which it has been treated, and the use of so-called grey water and rainwater for utility purposes (irrigation, flushing toilets, etc.).

Targeting water management has been of strategic importance in recent years, especially in the context of the ongoing climate change, the negative effects of drought and the looming shortage of drinking water.

The aim of the project is the gradual implementation of cost-saving measures in the field of drinking water management in the buildings of the Liberec Region, in the spirit of so-called smart buildings, automated building management using smart automatic technologies. The desired state is achieving cost savings, saving resources of water as a potentially scarce resource and quick and operational management based on the actual needs.

Partial activities of the project

• Collection of rainwater from roofs and paved areas, its subsequent use as utility water for watering and sprinkling, washing of equipment, cooling of façades or as a backup source for use in the building (after proper treatment)

• Collection of used drinking water - so-called grey water (water from showers, washbasins, sinks and dishwashers or washing machines), its technological treatment into so-called white water (filtration, UV lamps), its reuse in toilets and as utility water

• Connection to green infrastructure - green roofs, cooling of façades, retention and use of water in settlements in the form of water features, etc.

• Online monitoring of consumption, evaluation of savings in relation to the cost of technology and cost of operation in general, incl. maintenance

Our goals

The reconstruction of the Business Academy building in Česká Lípa will be the pilot project of the entire Smarter Region concept. During the reconstruction of sanitary facilities in the summer of 2021, technology will be installed to treat rainwater from the school roof and grey water from washbasins.

The newly planned parking house next to the regional authority building can serve as the next example. Rainwater from its green roof and the surrounding areas will be drained into an underground storage tank. It can be used in the irrigation system.

• To reduce the costs of drinking water consumption in buildings owned by Liberec Region

• To support water management in the area of municipalities, to support projects involving the establishment of blue-green infrastructure

• To avoid wasting drinking water, achieve partial recycling of waste water and their further use in the system in projects

• To ensure the possibility of online measurement of drinking water consumption and evaluation of system efficiency