Water industry

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Drinking water
The water industry provides drinking
water and wastewater services
(including sewage treatment) to
residential, commercial, and industrial
sectors of the economy. Typically
public utilities operate water supply
networks. The water industry does
not include manufacturers and
suppliers of bottled water, which is
part of the beverage production and
belongs to the food sector.

Overview
The water industry includes water
engineering, operations, water and
wastewater plant construction,
equipment supply and specialist
water treatment chemicals, among
others.

The water industry is at the service

of other industries, e.g. of the food
sector which produces beverages
such as bottled water.

Organizational structure
There are a variety of organizational
structures for the water industry,
with countries usually having one
dominant traditional structure, which
usually changes only gradually over
time.

Ownership of water
infrastructure and
operations

local government - the most usual

structure worldwide, public utility
national government - in many
developing countries, especially
smaller ones
private ownership - relatively few
examples outside Water
privatisation in England and Wales
 co-operative ownership and
related NGO structures, public
utility

Operations

local government operating the

system through a municipal
department, municipal company, or
inter-municipal company
local government outsources
operations to private experts
sector,(private water operators)
national government operations
private water operators owns the
system
 BOTs - private sector building
parts of a water system (such
as a wastewater treatment
plant) and operating it for an
agreed period before
transferring to public sector
ownership and operation.
cooperation and NGO operators

Functions

Integrated water system (water

supply, sewerage (sanitation)
system, and wastewater treatment)
Separation by function (e.g. Dutch
system where sewerage run by city,
water supply by municipal or
 provincial companies, and water
treatment by water boards),
though some Water Supply
Companies have merged beyond
municipal or provincial borders.
Other separation (e.g. Munich,
separated into three companies for
bulk water supply, water and
wastewater network operations,
and retail)

Standards
Water quality standards and
environmental standards relating to
wastewater are usually set by
national bodies.
In the UK, the Drinking Water
Inspectorate and the Environment
Agency.
In the United States, drinking water
standards for public water
systems are set by the United
States Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) pursuant to the Safe
Drinking Water Act.[1] EPA issues
water pollution control standards
in conjunction with state
environmental agencies, pursuant
to the Clean Water Act.[2]
For countries within the European
Union, water-related European
Union directives are important for
water resource management and
environmental and water quality
standards. Key directives include
the Urban Waste Water Treatment
Directive 1992 requiring most towns
and cities to treat their
wastewater to specified
standards, and the Water
Framework Directive 2000, which
requires water resource plans
based on river basins, including
public participation based on
Aarhus Convention principles.[3]
International Standards (ISO) on
water service management and
 assessment are under preparation
within Technical Committee ISO/TC
224.

See also
American Water Works Association
- North American industry and
standards association for drinking
water
Imagine H2O - International
accelerator and organization for
water technology startups
Millennium Development Goals (one
of the MDGs is "Reduce by half the
proportion of people without
 sustainable access to safe
drinking water")
National Rural Water Association -
Industry association supporting
small and rural water and
wastewater utilities in the United
States.
Water Environment Federation -
Professional association for
ambient water quality research &
pollution control
The Water Network - Network for
the water professionals to share
knowledge.

References
 1. United States. Safe Drinking
Water Act. Pub.L. 93–523 ;
88 Stat. 1660 ; 42 U.S.C. § 300f
et seq. Approved 1974-12-16.
2. United States. Federal Water
Pollution Control Act
Amendments of 1972. Pub.L. 92–
500 Approved 1972-10-18.
3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived
from the original (PDF) on 2005-
04-08. Retrieved 2004-12-29.
Watertime - the international
context. Section 2

External links
Truth from the Tap "Water Industry
Facts"
http://truthfromthetap.com/water
-industry-facts/
Lowi, Alvin Jr. Avoiding the Grid:
Technology and the
Decentralization of Water
WaterWorld Magazine (see Water &
Wastewater Industry Report e-
newsletter)
Global Water Intelligence
Industrial WaterWorld
Water & Wastewater International
Water Procurement Portal
 National Association of Clean
Water Agencies
Industrial Doctorate Centre for the
Water Sector

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