Water utilities face a moment when maintaining service is no longer enough. They are expected to safeguard water security in a warmer, more urban and demanding world. Pressures to invest, upgrade ageing infrastructure and strengthen institutions meet rising expectations for transparency, efficiency and resilience. This edition shows a sector moving with purpose, aware of each decision’s impact.
Our cover interview with Natalie Foeng, of Yarra Valley Water, captures this shift. Her approach brings climate planning, data, culture and circularity into a framework where resilience is not an add-on but central to the business model. Yarra shows that a utility can lead, not just adapt, when choices are grounded in knowledge, trust and long-term vision.
Other voices reinforce that message. Jennifer Sara, former World Bank Global Director, notes that investment flows when utilities, regulators and financial systems are strong. Nuno Medeiros, from EPAL, shows how resilience is built through controlling non-revenue water, risk-based asset management and commitment to water quality. Khaldon Khashman, at ACWUA, highlights regional progress through cooperation and professionalisation, while Mallak Bani Mustafa, from Southern Water, shows that transformation is cultural as well as technical. Together, they underline a central truth: resilience is a discipline.
Together, these pages reveal a sector learning to see resilience not as an obligation but as a commitment to people
The features show the sector’s direction: Badger Meter brings real-time clarity to water quality; Aqualia and ACCIONA reveal the demands of safer, more efficient systems; Ingeteam, WEG and Samotics show why energy efficiency is now strategic; and StormHarvester, Hexagon, Jacobs and ALCEA demonstrate how analytics, automation and digital twins anticipate failures and guide investment. SWPC offers a clear example of public–private collaboration mobilising capital at scale.
This edition also includes insight from Carlos Cosín, CEO of Almar Water Solutions, who argues that investing in water requires vision, courage, stability and shared responsibility. His perspective aligns with contributions from Austin Alexander, Bruno Pigott and Apurv Johari, who stress that resilience emerges from data, governance and leadership.
Together, these pages reveal a sector learning to see resilience not as an obligation but as a commitment to people. The future of water will depend on our capacity to make steady, purposeful decisions — to run each system efficiently and with intent. The legacy of Catarina de Albuquerque, who helped embed the human rights to water and sanitation into global norms, reminds us why this work matters: each improvement, investment and reform brings millions closer to security, dignity and opportunity.
