Source control of urban runoff: a potential for sustainable water resources or recipe for long-term pollution

摘要

There are a growing number of organisations, such as the Rocky Mountain Institute and The Natural Step, and indeed publications such as Factor Four (Von Weizsacker et al., 1997) which point to the considerable savings in resources and money which can be achieved in most fields of environmental activity by adopting a more holistic approach to planning, design, operation and maintenance. Such savings are certainly to be found in the area of the hydrological cycle affected by Man, largely because the reductionist paradigm has encouraged the growth of semiautonomous functional specialisms, for example water supply, sewerage, sewage treatment, flood defence and water resources. Their separate budgets and rationale have usually precluded or at the very least limited inter-communication; privatisation has only added further barriers which militate against husbandry of resources and other environmental community interests.