Transitions in the drinking water infrastructure – a retrospective analysis from source to tap

This report describes the results of a study into past transitions in drinking water infrastructure. Four case studies have been carried out, each describing a transition relating to a specific part of drinking water infrastructure and the role of drinking water companies in these transitions. This study is part of the project ‘drinking water infrastructure of the future’, in which critical insights and lessons learned from past transitions will be used in exploring plausible future transitions. The four case studies included transitions in the residential water consumption in the Netherlands, transitions in the design of (hot) drinking water installations, transition to minimum chlorine usage in drinking water production in
The Netherlands and a transition from groundwater to surface water in one water production facility.
The research questions were the same in each of these cases, namely: what were the changes that occurred, what were the main drivers and who were the main actors behind these changes? More specifically, the objectives of this study were to identify and to better understand:
– The type of change and timespan of and actors involved in the transition, as well as the main drivers/trends influencing the transition.
– The relation between the physical and social aspects concerning drinking water nfrastructure.
– The extent to which drinking water companies themselves influenced water infrastructure’s development so as to derive the most promising possibilities for steering future transitions.