Achieving sustainable and effective water management requires more than isolated interventions or reactive policies – it demands a deliberate and balanced three-pronged approach.

This approach must integrate:

1. Water service provision
2. Water resource protection and management
3. Financial viability.

Each pillar is essential, and none can succeed in isolation.

But equally important is how we implement this approach. Managerial, technological, and infrastructural solutions must all be given the same level of urgency and importance. They are not competing priorities. Instead, they are interdependent pillars that must work in concert.
When managerial solutions are not prioritised or implemented effectively, it is counterproductive to technological and infrastructure solutions.

No matter how advanced our technologies or well-built our infrastructure, poor planning, weak governance, and inadequate oversight can render them ineffective.

Examples of these solutions are as follows:

• Managerial solutions: Reducing non-revenue water, implementing sustainable water tariffs, improving operational efficiencies, outsourcing where beneficial, and institutional reforms such as performance-based contracts. These are especially important in smaller cities, where governance capacity may be limited.
• Infrastructural solutions: Rehabilitation schemes, improved asset management, integration of ecological infrastructure, investments in water collection, treatment and storage as well as sewer separation systems.
• Technological solutions: Anaerobic digestion, water beneficiation, next-generation sanitation systems, desalination, water reuse, and, critically, digital water management platforms.

Without strong management or updated infrastructure, these technologies may never be adopted – or they may be installed without delivering their full potential.

And without adopting technological solutions, water losses through ageing infrastructure will continue.

Failure to implement solutions for managerial, technological and infrastructural interventions will lead to a cascade of negative consequences:

•  Increased water scarcity where growing populations and climate variability will continue to strain limited resources.
• Escalating costs where operating outdated infrastructure without innovation results in rising operational and maintenance expenses. Delays in adopting new technologies today mean that larger, costlier infrastructure projects will be required in the future—projects that are often vulnerable to delays and conflict, as we’ve seen in major long-term developments.
• Environmental degradation where poor wastewater treatment contributes to polluted water bodies, while inefficient agricultural practices can lead to soil erosion and poor water quality.
• Serious social consequences as disparities in water access often deepen inequality, with poor communities bearing the brunt. Water insecurity impacts public health, daily life, and dignity.
• Stifled economic growth as water shortages limit agricultural and industrial output, deterring investment and slowing job creation. A lack of innovation in the water sector will discourage investment and job creation.

In short, if we fail to simultaneously implement managerial, technological, and infrastructural interventions with equal urgency, our goal of effective water management will remain out of reach. We must approach water service provision, resource protection, and financial viability not as separate goals, but as intertwined imperatives requiring a unified, proactive strategy.

By Dr. Harrison Pienaar, chairman, WISA