Abstract
Water utilities face a variety of challenges in meeting future demands under climate uncertainty, addressing aging infrastructure, ensuring water quality, and reducing energy use. The agility of the utility to implement innovative solutions to these challenges depends upon a variety of factors including utility governance and culture, regulatory environment, condition and performance of water infrastructure, and funding mechanisms for system improvements. The consequences of failing to meet these challenges could include environmental degradation, public health risks, and reductions in the level of service customers have come to expect, all at a highly elevated price. Two different types of water utilities are compared in this context: privately owned companies (using UK water companies as examples) and publicly owned utilities (using US municipal utilities as examples). Examples of innovation in the water industry, in the US and UK as well as globally, provide insight into the key barriers and opportunities for change. The successful drivers of innovation in the water industry are shown to include: a supportive culture at the water utility; a regulatory regime that allows or even promotes innovation; the financial ability to undertake research and implement improvements; and crucially, the backing of the public. Ultimately, neither the municipal nor the private model is perfect but the best elements of these could be combined as the basis for an innovative water utility of the future. WIREs Water 2015, 2:301–313. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1082This article is categorized under: Engineering Water > Planning Water Human Water > Water Governance
Highlights
Global challenges related to water availability, aging infrastructure, ensuring water quality, and energy use reduction will require innovative solutions
This paper examines innovation in the water industry from the perspective of a water systems engineer with more than 20 years of experience in developing strategic plans for water utilities, working both in the US and the UK
An examination of a variety of water utility configurations and situations can provide some insight into the attributes, which might be associated with the innovative water company of the future
Summary
Global challenges related to water availability, aging infrastructure, ensuring water quality, and energy use reduction will require innovative solutions. Water utilities are compared here: privately owned companies (using UK water companies as examples) and publicly owned utilities (using US municipal utilities as examples). Both types of water utilities face similar challenges, with assets that are reaching or have already reached the end of their useful service life and require replacement or upgrading at a significant cost. Wires.wiley.com/water private model is perfect but perhaps the best elements of these could be combined for an innovative water utility of the future
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have