Water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) is a concept that is gaining support as a means to manage urban water systems in an integrated way through the better positioning of the topic of water in urban planning and design processes.Water-sensitive urban design is emerging in the UK and this paper sets the scene and identifies the opportunities and constraints from a UK perspective. Recent developments in integrated water management, ecosystem services and multifunctional land use provide new opportunities for 'getting more for less'. These can range from seeing all forms of water as a resource, exploiting opportunities to contribute to the green and blue infrastructure agendas, resilience to climate and other changes. This paper draws on international experience as to how water-sensitive urban design can deliver opportunities; mitigate the urban development challenges; implement and support institutional, regulatory and practical opportunities and demonstrate the benefits of taking a water-sensitive urban design approach in the UK. The key requirements for delivery are highlighted and a proposed vision for water-sensitive urban design in the UK outlined.

Urban drainage has developed from an engineering discipline concerned principally with public health and safety outcomes, into a multi-faceted vision linking drainage with environmental and wider social and economic imperatives to deliver multi-functional outcomes. UK attention is too often focused on surface water as a problem despite international progress and initiatives showing that an opportunity-centred approach needs to be taken. Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS/SUDS) as part of an integrated approach to water management, cost-effectively provide many benefits beyond management of water quality and quantity. New tools are available that can provide the means to design SuDS for maximum value to society and this requires greater collaboration across disciplines to seize all of the opportunities available. Tools and a roadmap for this are introduced, including guidance, design objectives and criteria for maximising benefits. These new supporting tools and guidance can help provide the business case for using SuDS.

The increasing spread of urbanization is a common phenomenon witnessed in most parts of the world due to the perceived benefits of urban living. A compounding issue is the growing shortage of safe and reliable water sources. Perennial water shortages are becoming a common feature in many parts of the world. It is important to recognize stormwater reuse as a key resource for securing adequate future water supplies based on the concept of 'water fit for purpose'. These require careful prioritization of vulnerabilities, identification of the areas requiring adaptation and provide certainty of outcomes. Given the increasing inevitability of climate change it should be viewed as an opportunity to take advantage of new opportunities which stormwater reuse presents. This study identified key barriers to stormwater reuse and the difficulties in removing them. protecting the planet, Synthesis report of the Secretary-General on the post-2015 sustainable development agenda. http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/69/700&Lang=E, Accessed 18 th August 2015 Wu, P. and Tan, M., 2012, Challenges for sustainable urbanization: a case study of water shortage and water environment changes in Shandong, China, Procedia Environmental Sciences, Vol. 13, pp. 919-927. Yaduvanshi, A. and Ranade, A., 2015, Effect of Global temperature changes on rainfall fluctuations over river basins across Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains, Aquatic Prodedia, Vol. 4, pp. 721-729.

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Many hand water pumps across Sub-Saharan Africa break down prematurely and remain out of service for significant periods of time. This issue has been well documented, with reports suggesting that between 20% and 65% of hand pumps in a number of African countries are broken. It has also been reported that broken hand pumps in this region have represented between $1.2 and $1.5 billion of ineffective investment over the last twenty years. Regular post-construction monitoring of remote water pumps can help address these problems. However, in many instances traditional monitoring programmes require regular site visits to remote locations, which can delay the implementation of repairs and place heavy time and resource demands on supervisory bodies. In response there has been an emerging interest in the use of mobile phone based technologies to monitor water pumps. The authors describe a new monitoring system, called MANTIS (Monitoring & ANalytics To Improve Service), which is intended to be a context-appropriate monitoring tool for hand pumps in developing regions. The paper introduces field trials of this system