ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the design and implementation of an alternative, more sustainable, municipal water system. It describes the approach taken by the sustainable technology development (STD) water project and focuses on its use of life-cycle assessment as a steering tool to guide the search for a more sustainable system. A group of sustainability experts was brought together to sketch a vision of how a sustainable water system might look. The chapter describes the work of Hugo Meijer and Jaap van Leeuwen of STD's water project and a set of expert reports written by Professors van den Akker, Terpstra, Wiggers and Lettinga. They presented their ideas at a workshop to an audience of actors and stakeholders representing the various branches of the water industry and the water-using community. Their presentations covered location-specific management of groundwater, household use of water, waste-water and precipitation collection, and waste-water treatment.
