Abstract:
Water is not only a basic need of human beings, but also a strategic economic resource. However, the
distribution of water throughout the earth is diverse. At present, water is a challengeable natural
resource for many countries and some studies predicted that the world will face a water dilemma in
2025-2030, if not consumed in sustainable way. Moreover, population growth, climate change, and
industrialisation are critical factors that impact on the water sector and ultimately result in freshwater
shortage and continued water pollution. The current practice considers water as a separate sectoral box
in many economic evaluations although water is an integrated resource in many industries. Therefore,
the time has come to think out of the box with the cohesiveness of sustainable development. It is a known
fact that the construction industry too uses water in almost all the activities and without water no more
construction is possible. However, water management during construction is given less attention by the
industry stakeholders at present. This is despite an upsurge in the demand for construction activities
both in building and civil engineering projects due to speedy industrialisation to cater for the population
growth. This paper is based on the literature review of an on-going PhD research. The paper critically
reviews the secondary data on water studies conducted in the construction industry. The views and
findings on water handling during the physical construction, and strategies towards sustainable water
consumption in construction industry are also discussed. In addition, the paper identifies four critical
drivers that impact on sustainable practices of water use during the physical construction phase.
Citation:
Waidyasekara, K.G.A.S., De Silva, M.L., & Rameezdeen, R. (2014). A critical review of water studies in construction industry. In Y.G. Sandanayake, N.G. Fernando & G.I. Karunasena (Eds.), Sustainability and development in built environment: the way forward (pp. 1-12). Ceylon Institute of Builders. https://ciobwcs.com/downloads/WCS2014-Proceedings.pdf