*If you are attending the Greenbuild International Conference & Expo next week, see below for Monday tour.
Our Buildings Are Using Too Much Water
In 2015, a 60-year-old cast iron water main burst in Lafayette, CA causing significant flooding and left residents without water. In 2018, a water main ruptured in Hayward, CA creating a large sinkhole and sending water, rocks and mud down city streets. And in September of this year, a massive water break in Fullerton, CA had water, dirt and rocks shooting into the air for 40 minutes, damaging multiple properties. Yet, at the same time, new buildings continue to be added to these same grids every day, each one increasing the strain on systems already stretched to the limits.
A single building is responsible for using millions of gallons of water every day, yet few of us stop to think about where that water comes from or where it goes after use. It’s quite literally the elephant in the room we all mostly ignore.
We’re designing our skylines and communities of tomorrow yet relying on decades-old infrastructure to supply and manage our water (above photo). Across the U.S., water and wastewater systems are aging faster than we can repair them. Many were built for a different era, when climate stress, population density, and drought were less severe.
And while we’ve made remarkable progress in building design—higher energy performance, lower embodied carbon, smarter controls, and more resilient materials—there’s one improvement we continue to overlook: wastewater recycling.
Buildings account for roughly 15% of all available potable water use. A single hotel room can use up to 400 gallons of water per day, and in office buildings, nearly 37% of the freshwater supply goes just to flushing toilets. Across the country, water and sewer rates have risen 24% over the last five years, with no sign of slowing down. Every gallon delivered, treated, and piped away is part of a system that’s increasingly under pressure and expensive to maintain. Recycling wastewater at the building scale should be the norm, not the exception.
There is no such thing as wastewater, only wasted water
Wastewater is not waste. It is the next frontier for resilient, sustainable buildings and one of the largest untapped resources at our disposal. It’s full of value, waiting to be captured and reused in a wide range of non-potable applications within the same building. Water is a finite resource, it’s time we start treating it as such.
Reimagining wastewater as a resource is a necessary mindset shift. If projects evolved from water users to water re-users, they’d become an active participant in a circular, regenerative urban water system. This shift represents the next frontier of resilient, sustainable design.
The Hidden Cost of Ignoring the Elephant
Nearly every gallon of water that enters a building is paid for twice: once to bring it in, and again to send it away. It’s an expensive, linear model that no longer fits the challenges of our time.
By installing onsite water reuse systems, projects can break that cycle. These systems capture, treat, and recycle water for non-potable uses like toilet flushing, cooling, irrigation, and laundry. The result? Significant reductions in utility costs, infrastructure strain, and emissions associated with sending wastewater miles away for treatment. Projects can see a 3-7 year return on their technology investment, and utility savings can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
- A 700,000 sq ft. commercial high-rise in San Francisco can save around $160,000 per year with a blackwater reuse system
- A 500-unit residential high-rise in San Diego can save $200,000 per year recycling water for toilet flushing and laundry use
And this isn’t a future concept, it’s happening today. Across the country, forward-thinking projects are already embracing onsite water recycling to build more resilient, sustainable communities.
Building for the Next Century
The buildings we design and construct today will define the resource efficiency and resilience of our cities for the next 50 to 100 years. We can’t afford to build them with 20th-century assumptions about water.
Onsite water recycling represents an opportunity to future-proof our built environment; to make every new project part of the solution, not add to our problems. The technology is ready. The regulatory landscape is evolving. What’s needed now is a shift in mindset and people ready to face the elephant in the room.
The most sustainable buildings of the future will be those that see wastewater not as something to dispose of, but as something to design around; a valuable resource hiding in plain sight. It’s time to rethink the way we design, construct, and operate our buildings. It’s time to talk about the elephant in the room.
*If you are attending the Greenbuild International Conference & Expo next week, please jump on the Monday 11/3 tour “Bespoke Sustainability: Exploring Iconic LEED Landmarks of Beverly Hills”, which will feature the LEED Gold-certified Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, including our in-depth look at its onsite water reuse system.
*To read the “Paradox of Cheap Water: Strategies for Scaling Efficiency”, a USGBC-CA insight paper, please click here.
Posted 10/31/25
About Chelsea Wolff
Chelsea Wolff leads the marketing team at Epic Cleantec, an award-winning water technology company helping buildings reuse water onsite. She has over fourteen years of experience helping brands share their mission and expand their reach through owned, earned and paid media. At Epic, she shapes the company’s storytelling around sustainability, resilience, and innovation, bringing to life how onsite water reuse can redefine the future of urban water management.
