Water reuse is one of the biggest conversations in the industry, not just in the UK but globally. In particular, there has been a significant drive towards onsite water recycling in those parts of the US that are being hit hardest by droughts. The technology is important because it will form part of the essential infrastructure of smarter, more resilient cities in the future.

It’s currently being piloted in California in a futuristic development called Park Habitat. If it’s successful, the possibilities are profound, as replicating the technology anywhere and everywhere will be relatively straightforward. For now, the recycled water will be for non-potable purposes such as toilet flushing, but Aaron Tartakovsky, the man behind the technology, believes all that will change by 2040. He commented that the technology already exists to bring water to drinking standards. The biggest barrier is a cultural one, or as Tartakovsky puts it, the “yuck factor.”

The topic of PFAs is another that has been hitting the headlines on both sides of the Atlantic over the past 12 months. Now there’s a sense that it’s time for decisive action. PFAs are the toxic plastic micro particles that started turning up everywhere in recent years – in oceans, in fish, in polar bears and in people.

Part of the problem is there is still so much we don’t know about PFAs. What is clear is that they exist in our drinking water, typically at levels between 5 and 15 ng/l. Professor Roger Klein is one of the UK’s leading experts on PFAs. He says that given the amount we do not know about their effects, the “safe level” of up to 100ng/l stipulated by the UK Drinking Water Inspectorate is “ridiculous” and should be slashed. This is a topic that will develop fast over the coming months.