ABSTRACT
Current water infrastructure systems and technologies, implemented in the 1850s, must be fundamentally transformed to meet the needs of 2050. Increasing consideration of climate change and population growth scenarios means there is a broadening realisation within the engineering, water management and policy-making communities, that water scarcity, flooding and pollution issues can only be resolved with multi-objective interventions. Such interventions seek to synergistically: reduce water demand, restore urban ecosystems, increase resource use efficiency, develop new, sustainable resources, change water cultures and practices, use end-use appropriate water qualities and increase the flexibility, resilience and adaptability of our water, sanitation and drainage services. This complex reconfiguration calls for a transition to sustainable integrated water management (SIWM), which seeks to integrate all aspects of the urban water cycle. Interventions under a SIWM future include smart metering, low-carbon rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems, urine separation and planned indirect potable re-use. Consequently, retrofitting for SIWM also means fundamentally reconfiguring our values and practices relating to water, its quality and our intended uses. Critical pathways to be fulfilled are therefore technical and market-based, political and governance-based, and cultural and water-user-based. Greater integration and partnering with other sectors, such as local planning, is also crucial.
