The new regulation allows for the introduction of a water recovery system in showers and baths in:

• Residential buildings with 16 or more new-build homes, or in the case of major renovations, provided the building is replaced, even if the façade or some structural element is kept.
• For other types of buildings, providing their annual water consumption is equal to or above 595 m3 to fill cisterns or supply watering systems and they can make use of treated greywater. Whether new buildings or renovations, where the overall project involves: increasing the volume of building space or the existing number of working units, changing the main use or implementing a general redistribution of space, even though the façade or some structural element is kept. Exceptions will include hospitals, medical centres, psycho-social homes and facilities, nursery schools and buildings that already contemplate the use of regenerated water.

In all, the measure should cover 70% of new-build homes and major renovations, 100% of hotels and nearly 90% of sports facilities. It should save 136,000 cubic metres of safe water every year in the city as a whole.

This reuse of greywater comes in addition to other measures already being rolled out, such as the enlargement of the groundwater network.