External factors forcing the industry to anticipate and adapt
A range of emerging external challenges are challenging the established expectations of safe, secure water for water-secure countries and exacerbating existing issues in water-stressed countries. Although these factors are entirely out of the hands of the water sector, utilities must anticipate the impact of these changes on their capacity to deliver services and to put measures in place that will minimize the effect of these factors on service quality and customers’ bills.
Population growth putting greater pressure on assets and operations
The UN predicts that 68% of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050, adding an estimated 2.5 billion people to the world’s cities. This would place increased pressure on available water infrastructure as urban centers grow and infrastructure capacities struggle to meet increasing demand. Efficiently meeting the needs of an expanding population requires measures to manage both demand and supply. Water conservation and diversification should be at the core of the industry’s objectives, with systems such as water and wastewater treatment, storm-water harvesting, desalination plants to convert sea water to potable water and demand-side management through smart metering, witnessing increased deployment across the world. Singapore, for example, has 3 desalination plants currently in operation, satisfying about 30% of the country’s water demand with 2 plants scheduled to come online by 2020. A water utility is installing smart water meters to improve demand management in remote Western Australian towns. Two years after initial deployment, smart meters have assisted the utility in reducing their annual water supply in excess of 800 million liters. This initiative also led to better billing efficiencies for the utility.
Utilities are using innovation to tackle growing Climate Change issues
Over coming decades, the impact of climate change is expected to have a mounting influence on the way water is supplied, managed and consumed. These changes will impact the balance of how water systems, across supply, wastewater and storm-water verticals, interact with the environment with potentially harmful implications to public health and sustainability of communities. Existing infrastructure is likely to be threatened by these extreme weather events and resilience across the value chain has to be strengthened while keeping new investments affordable and efficient. In Canada, for example, cities across the country have formulated various storm-water management strategies and practices which aims to improve storm-water systems and protect fresh water bodies from storm-water run-off.
Communities are evolving and so are their expectations
Growing populations and changing urban environments are bringing new challenges to the water industry. Smart design methodologies are required to ensure efficient use of smaller spaces and integrate water management to better serve the needs of customers. Technology interventions that make use of smart metering and real time information dissemination would surmount many of these challenges and drive investment efficiency, while reuse systems, water harvesting and water treatment would ensure optimal use of the water network. A regional government body in Australia has formulated a water management policy which creates incentives and opportunities for integrated water management, and aims to
improve livability and resilience in towns and cities via strategic actions. These incentives include diversification of water sources, investments in wastewater treatment and recovery and storm-water management to name a few.
Managing costs amid rising energy prices
Global energy prices are expected to continue their upward trajectory if global energy policies remain the same. Many processes in the water cycle, including water pumping, are energy intensive and puts pressures of energy price volatility on the industry. Measures like renewable energy integration and waste-to-energy plants are reducing the sector’s dependence on the grid and keeping costs in check. Sludge to energy plants are slowly spreading throughout the world with countries like Brazil, Argentina, The United States, China and Norway a few examples of countries turning wastewater into power. A facility in China is producing enough compressed natural gas from their facility to meet the daily energy requirements for 300 cars and the sale of the gas and digestate generates more than $1.5 million for the plant annually.
Legacy assets are struggling to keep up with economic and demographic expansion
As utilities evolve, they are constantly undergoing obsolescence upgrades on ageing equipment and software systems in order to remain operational. As the systems and equipment age, availability and uptime is reduced and more maintenance would possibly be required. This wastes valuable resources on planned and unplanned downtime and tasks that include, for example, driving out to remote sites to perform maintenance activities. Utilities across the world are putting various measures in place to tackle these issues which include investments on new infrastructure and adoption of
advanced automated processes that allow utilities to improve operations and maintenance through preventive maintenance. An Australian utility, for example, leveraged its historical data to develop a predictive model that allows
detection of sewer blockages up to 13 hours prior to the customer report.
Current workforce not fully equipped to handle tomorrow’s problems
Countries around the world are reporting skills shortages in the water industry, which can be attributed mainly to an ageing workforce, low wages, challenging work locations, competition from other organisations and the cost and time required to achieve the required skills in order to keep up with various technological advancements in the sector. At a time when the world’s water infrastructure needs serious upgrades, up-skilling and adding to the current workforce is critical to ensure the progress of the industry, while retaining experienced staff is equally as critical to train the next generation of industry professionals. Significant investments need to be made around the world to imbibe workers with the required skills to take the industry forward. In the San Francisco Bay area, a consortium of water utilities and stakeholders support cost-effective investments in workforce reliability. In Australia, utilities and government bodies alike are implementing various courses and programs in order to up-skill the current workforce and attract a new generation of professionals to the industry.
Continued adaptation is crucial to long-term water security
Various factors, whether external or internal, continue to threaten the global water industry. Factors that are not under the industry’s control like climate change, increasing energy costs, rapid population growth and changing community
expectations, require managers in the sector to anticipate and put measures in place to deal with these obstacles as and when they appear. Desalination plants, smart metering and waste-to-energy plants are just some of the ways in which the industry is aiming to surmount these obstacles. Internally, utilities themselves are investing in new innovative technologies and equipping the current workforce with the necessary skills to meet future water challenges head on. As long as the global water industry continues to adapt and anticipate various obstacles to water security, the future should be in good hands.
