ABSTRACT
Water utilities throughout the world are today faced with the need to address significant investment in their underground infrastructure with diminishing financial resources. As such, they are turning to private sector finance to fund capital investment programmes which regularly extend into millions of dollars. However, private sector involvement carries with it different expectations, primarily related to return on capital employed. It is, therefore, inevitable that operational efficiencies are sought, resulting in the shedding of manpower and with it the loss of tacit knowledge. In some extreme cases in the UK, water utilities are now seeking to restructure themselves such has been the impact of regulatory price controls. This paper highlights some of the key issues related to the impact of private sector involvement upon the UK water industry over the last 10 years or so, from the point of view of sustainable management and operation of potable water infrastructure.
