Pilot project to test seawater in toilets

91 new apartments in Nordhavn are part of trial

The pension fund PKA has teamed up with the capital region's water supplier HOFOR on a pilot project that will test the implementation of seawater in toilets in new housing in Copenhagen's Nordhavn district.

The project aims to replace drinking water in toilets with the nearby seawater in 91 apartments that are currently being established at the Sandkaj waterfront development, which is scheduled to be completed in 2016.

”I think it's a great initiative from HOFOR, and I didn't hesitate involving PKA with the project,” Nikolaj Stampe, a real estate boss with PKA, said in a press release.

”If we can replace clean drinking water with seawater, then it would be foolish not to do so, from a climate and resource perspective.”

READ MORE: Government wants to use more recycled bricks

Only new housing
Figures from HOFOR show that every person in Copenhagen uses about 100 litres of drinking water every day via showers, baths, laundry, dish washing and toilet flushing. Replacing toilet water with seawater would reduce the consumption of clean drinking water by 17 percent per person.

The seawater is to be obtained locally by drilling about 18 metres down into the underground where the salt-containing groundwater is located. The water will then be distributed through a separate piping system to the toilets in the building.

The pilot project will be periodically evaluated over the next couple of years based on parameters such as finance and user satisfaction, and the concept will only be considered for new housing in the future and not already constructed housing.

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