Chronically aging infrastructure. Lurking cybersecurity threats,
budget tightropes and the quest for sustainability. Mounting
external pressures for more resilience against the menace of
climate change’s fallout. An evolving, shifting regulatory landscape
stoking uncertainty. Workforce staffing headaches and broad public
misperceptions about rates and the value of water.
Never has the U.S. water, wastewater and stormwater sectors
confronted so much. Yet Black & Veatch’s 2023 Water Report also
finds a wealth of opportunity, most clearly in digital technologies
and innovations that help operators make better decisions and get
the most of their assets.
Integrated water solutions also provide a wealth of opportunities.
With the providing of reliable, safe water at the core of every utility’s
mandate and mission, these dynamic times are helping reshape
the water sector that is increasingly — and promisingly — adopting
integrated solutions that achieve sustainable development and
system resilience. Contributing to that is a widening embrace of a
“One Water” approach based on accepting that all forms of water —
from drinking water to wastewater, stormwater, reclaimed water,
indirect and direct potable reuse, and groundwater — are a singular
resource to be managed sustainably.
Based on expert analyses of a survey of roughly 450 U.S. water
sector stakeholders, the 2023 Water Report takes the pulse of the
industry on these topics and more, dissecting the pain points, the
trends and opportunities facing water utilities today.
To no surprise, it’s a conversation that begins with the white
elephant in the room: the critical infrastructure that gets older
by the day — and the complexities involved in addressing aging
infrastructure among many other competing interests.
