UD-05 · 03 Urban Design
Water-sensitive block
A housing block that catches, uses, and soaks its own rain before anything leaves for a pipe — cistern, greywater, then garden.
Origin
Water-sensitive urban design; arid-city courtyard practice
Materials
- Roof catchments and first-flush diverters
- Cisterns sized to a dry month of garden and cleaning use
- A greywater line to trees, never to a sealed tank of leftovers
Method
- 01
Measure roof area and a local monthly rainfall. Size storage to use, not to a fantasy of off-grid luxury.
- 02
Fit a first-flush so the cistern does not drink the bird-lime of a dry month.
- 03
Use the cleanest water for the closest-to-the-body jobs, then send wash water to the trees. Do not mix blackwater into this loop.
- 04
Give every tank an overflow to a rain garden, not to the neighbor's foundation.
- 05
Label every tap. A child should be able to tell drinking water from garden water.
What this makes possible
- A block that asks less of the municipal main
- Trees that are watered as a byproduct of washing
- A visible water cycle, which is how a culture of care starts
This is a field record, not a permit. Adapt to local law, climate and skill. If you have run this method, send what you learned.