Liquid Waste Management in the Construction Projects

The construction industry is increasingly concerned with improving its environmental performance and reducing the environmental impact. Construction projects utilise water and generate wastewater. A considerable volume of water is used for washing and cleaning processes at construction sites which is often unmetered. At the same time, liquid waste/wastewater generated from construction projects is harmful to the environment and human health, pollutes the groundwater and the ground soil and therefore, it is important to manage liquid waste appropriately. This project investigated the current practice of liquid waste management (LWM) and treatment including the legal requirements related to LWM in construction projects. The sources of liquid waste, different methods used for managing liquid waste in construction sites and barriers for implementing sustainable LWM practices have been identified through semi-structured interviews with industry experts. Systems that improve current practice have been studied as comparators. The average of water consumed for tool washing and water-saving per square meter have been estimated for different types of buildings and compared against the use of sustainable LWM systems in construction projects. Moreover, this study compares the total volume of water consumed for tool washing between water mains and sustainable LWM systems. This research summarises the practice of LWM in construction projects through the analysis of expert user views while providing an account of legislation relent. It also summarises the water use and water saving potential when sustainable LWM practices are adopted. It has the potential to add new and under-measured factors to the current LWM systems for the Green Rating of buildings and produce a more sustainable construction industry.