Although cost remains the biggest issue for 42 percent of respondents in developing new alternative water supplies, projects are becoming more competitive as utilities’ fixed infrastructure costs and needs for investment continue to increase. These infrastructure repair, replacement and operating costs are independent of the potential investment recovery available for alternative water supply projects. Although these projects are still cost-sensitive, innovative solutions for project implementation, including various types of public-private partnerships, are becoming more popular.

Survey responses, however, provide reasons for cautious optimism that risk and vulnerability assessments are being funded and completed. More than 50 percent of water utility survey respondents indicated they have completed a risk or vulnerability assessment in the past five years. Still, more needs to be done because the industry as a whole appears to be underinvesting in, and undervaluing, security.  

Sustainable development in the Asia Pacific region can help to fund and prioritize stormwater infrastructure and water management strategies. By better coordination of land and water use, surface water and groundwater, water quantity and quality, upstream and downstream use, and freshwater and coastal waters, water leaders in this region can acknowledge the interconnections between each factor in planning for use of alternative water resources.

Plotting a Roadmap for Transition

When approaching the transition to AMI, report results show that 33 percent are considering a migratable transition from AMR to AMI, 33 percent are planning to implement a full proactive deployment of AMI, 18 percent are planning to implement AMR first, with a full AMI replacement in the distant future, and the remaining 16 percent plan to follow another path.

These smart metering investments can be substantial, and the technology is ever-evolving. Thus, no matter which path they choose, utility leaders need to develop a strategy and a roadmap that demonstrates full awareness of how their transition to automated and advanced systems will evolve and expand over time. To fully realize the benefits of AMR and AMI, the utility will need to have a framework in place that can not only capture and analyze the data but can also be trusted to determine the utility’s path forward for optimized water management.

Data analytics can tie into how a water utility models its operations from finances to asset management, utilizing real-time information. Organizations then have the flexibility to adjust technical and strategic models for more effective and economical operations. Among this year’s survey participants, 93 percent indicated that system resilience was one of the most important challenges to the water industry, making its correlation with enterprise asset management critical.

Changing Value Perceptions

With respect to building financial capacity, most utilities strive to achieve the required bond covenants while balancing customer affordability requirements and adequately meeting operation and capital budgets. Utilities that aim to build long-term sustainability, however, exercise a deliberate and holistic focus on key factors including best practices that are based on asset management, service delivery excellence, customer convenience and low-income assistance, enhanced financial performance metrics and consistent stakeholder engagement.

A world-class utility should be asking itself: To get to that ultimate level of performance, what resources and strategies do I need to apply? Water solutions should focus on providing value in all facets of service delivery while communicating the alignment between the costs and the value of water.