In the coming days, the Chamber of Deputies will discuss the amendment to the Water Act in the third reading. The Committee on Agriculture supported the amendment by Radek Holomčík (Pirates), who wants to introduce the definition of service water in the legislation. Part of the proposal is postponed until 1 January 2022, so that the Ministry of Health has time to prepare a decree with specific parameters. This can save up to 40 % of drinking water.
The main reason for this is ambiguity of what can be considered as service water and for what purposes it can be used. “It's rainwater or grey water from showers and sinks. After certain hygienic modifications, it can be used for flushing toilets, for irrigation or for washing,“ says Petr Holub, the Director of the Chance for Buildings.
"However, if the hygienic station are setting their requirements for each project individually, an investor will lack predictability of the outcome, so it is necessary to establish the definition in the law and its parameters in the decree of the Ministry of Health. In both residential and commercial buildings, up to 40% of drinking water is used for flushing. This volume can be saved with rain and grey water,” adds Holub.
Tomorrow, there will be a vote on the government's proposal of the Minister of the Environment Richard Brabec, which builders will be obliged to ensure the use of rainwater from the next year by "accumulation and subsequent use, seepage on the land, or evaporation", as stated in the proposed text § 5 , paragraph 3 of the Water Act. Only if all mentioned is not possible the water will be brought to the sewer in a regulated way. The Chance for buildings supports this provision and recommends that the law as a whole be approved.
In the past, the Chance for buildings and the Minister Brabec declared the need to remove administrative barriers, strengthen economic incentives and also introduce a legal obligation to use rainwater and grey water in buildings. They did so after a joint round table, which took place on June 9, 2020.
The Minister of the Environment Richard Brabec issued a neutral opinion on the amendment proposed by Pirates, which helped the Committee on Agriculture to support the proposal. The Minister supported the proposal in fact, but in the agreement with the Minister Vojtěch he argued that the definition should be introduced only after the transposition of the new European legislation on the quality of water for human consumption. However, there would be a further delay here, as elections to the Chamber of Deputies will take place next year.