This session is in two parts.Water is scarcer. Systems for both fresh and waste water are vulnerable. Water standards are increasingly stringent to protect ecosystems and public health. Since water and energy are so inextricably intertwined, the term, “water grid" provides a unique frame for exploring how to operate a more closed-loop system of water production and use. As architects, engineers, builders and municipal planners, what will we have to rethink and re-do about processing fresh and waste water in developing the next generation of the built environment? Both sessions are explorations into emerging, but sometimes not yet proven, solutions in technology, design, behavior change and policy. Session one will examine the present and emergent conditions regarding both fresh and waste water. It will provide an overview of what is being done to change the conversation, change policy, and change practice about water use in the built environment. For example, how building and zoning code changes are reducing water use.