The business of water in a changing world: organizations, connectors and support sector

Abstract

As water resources are used for an array of societal purposes, a core set of institutions manages them through a water sector with connections to other societal sectors such as food, energy and health. A framework of the sector and its connectors is presented to develop definitions and order-of-magnitude estimates of expenditures for infrastructure, equipment and service delivery mechanisms. Examples are provided for the US to represent higher-income countries and for the general case of lower-income countries. Understanding water’s business aspects can identify opportunities to improve water efficiency and lower water footprints across the global range of contextual situations.

Keywords:

• Water industry
• business
• infrastructure
• services
• model structure