Water
Sustainable water management
Collecting and reusing rain water on the roof of Forum Chriesbach saves valuable drinking water - annually approx. ??l per person. It is only used for meal preparation in the staff canteen, for the water fountains located around the floors and for washbasins.
The open water garden (80m3) is located between Forum Chriesbach and the building of the Children Pavilion. It serves as a storage for rain water that is harvested on the green roof and slowly drained off, so that contaminants from the facade and the environment are retained. In addition, eco-friendly material has been used for the lining of the roof. The rain water collected this way is fed by separate pipes to the toilets for flushing.
At the Forum Chriesbach building NoMix toilets are installed, i.e. urine and faeces go separate ways. Urine is collected and drained into local storage tanks for research purposes. Separate treatment of urine not only prevents environmental pollution, it also
allows for the reuse of nutrients as fertiliser in agriculture. Eawag scientists are testing various processes and are optimizing them continuously.
Also see Urban Water Management Switzerland for more information and data.