The water company is working with the Argyll Community Housing Association (ACHA) on twelve houses at the Barn Park development in Inveray – six of which will have normal water systems and six of which will be fitted with rainwater harvesting technology.
The houses using captured rainwater to flush their toilets are predicted to use up to 30 per cent less water over the three year trial period.
All 12 of the houses, which are due to be completed August 2015, will have their water use recorded by a smart monitor which will store and send the data to Scottish Water to examine. The results of the trial will then be shared with Building Standards.
Scottish Water’s project manager Andy Wilson said: “Producing water is energy and cost intensive, and with rising energy costs we are constantly looking for ways we can help or customers use less water without impacting on their quality of life.
“Although Scotland is awash with water, the production of drinking water that meets regulatory standards and ensures the on-going health of Scots is expensive.
“By investigating technologies that use rainwater in a smart way we are taking those first crucial steps to changing how we view our consumption and clever use of water.”