When water is valued, sustainability follows: reducing leakage and promoting water reuse
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Wan Rosely, Wan Izar Haizan
Voulvoulis, Nikolaos
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
According to the UN, the failure to fully value water in all its different uses lies at the heart of its political neglect and mismanagement. Yet, determining the 'true' value of water as a natural resource is highly complex and widely recognised as an impossible task. Using London as a case study, we revisit a key infrastructure decision made approximately two decades ago by the capital’s water/wastewater service provider. In response to a regulatory request to increase water supply, the company ultimately prioritised the development of a desalination plant over large-scale mains replacement to address systemic leakage, on the basis of its cost-effectiveness; a decision that has since proven to be highly problematic. This analysis re-examines that decision and compares the natural capital value of water to its replacement cost as means for improving how water was valued in the process. Findings demonstrate that when adopting a whole water cycle perspective and incorporating the natural capital value of water into the decision-making, more sustainable outcomes emerge. Assigning such value to the water abstracted from nature, water companies and utilities can make better-informed investment decisions and promote sustainable alternatives that can ultimately decouple urban water consumption from the depletion and pollution of water resources.
Date Issued
2025-11-19
Date Acceptance
2025-11-08
Citation
Water Reuse, 2025, 15 (4), pp.667-683
ISSN
2709-6092
Publisher
IWA Publishing
Start Page
667
End Page
683
Journal / Book Title
Water Reuse
Volume
15
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Authors This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY 4.0), which permits copying, adaptation and redistribution, provided the original work is properly cited (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2025-11-19