What is Water Sensitive Urban Design?
Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) is an approach which integrates the management of all water resources and the total water cycle into the urban development process. WSUD includes: • Utilising water saving measures within and outside domestic, commercial, industrial and institutional premises to minimise requirements for drinking and non-drinking water supplies; • Storage, treatment and beneficial use of runoff (at building and street level, including stormwater); • Treatment and reuse of wastewater; and • Using vegetation for treatment purposes, water efficient landscaping and enhancing biodiversity and amenity. There are many different WSUD measures which together form a ’tool kit‘ from which individual measures can be selected to form a specific response suiting the characteristics of any development (or redevelopment). Those measures are outlined in the Summary Sheets and described in detail in the WSUD Technical Manual.
