Future drinking water infrastructure, building blocks for drinking water companies for their strategic planning

“Firstly, the focus in this framework is on planning for and adapting to socio-technical change of drinking water infrastructure. This assumes that any strategic planning of drinking water infrastructure needs to consider both the social and technical aspects in relation to each other, not in isolation. Drinking water infrastructure comprises physical elements like pipes and pumps, but they are designed, implemented and operated by people (often through IT systems as intermediaries). Furthermore, all this occurs in a broader (urban) environment that influences (facilitates and hampers) the design, implementation and use of drinking water infrastructure. While the engineer might look for technologically optimal ‘solutions’, but often loses sight of who is to operate this technology or trends in behavior, the strategist might come up with the brightest ideas and concepts without taking into account the technical limitations. This book thus proposes that from the start of a strategic process, the two (and other professions) work closely together. This might seem like an open door. The research project where this book is based upon, however, has shown it is not; technical and social/ strategic departments and professionals still work very much in isolation.”

(Citaat: Blokker, E.J.M., Büscher, C.H., Palmen, L.J., Agudelo-Vera, C.M. – Future drinking water infrastructure, building blocks for drinking water companies for their strategic planning – KWR, IWA (15 maart 2019) eISBN: 9781789060485 – Open Access)