Challenges of modular water infrastructure systems

Background

Urban water management is confronted with substantial sustainability challenges (climate change, new pollutants, ageing infrastructures). Recent technological advances would enable radically more decentralised and modular solutions to tackle these problems. Their large scale diffusion presents considerable challenges regarding regulation and operation. An early assessment of potential transformation dynamics is therefore key for informing the innovation strategies of different actors.

Aim

Comix aimed to assess recent technological developments and global industry dynamics in order to identify potential roles for Swiss actors in this emerging industry[LB1] . It wanted to analyse alternative governance structures to develop, operate and regulate these new infrastructures and to develop tools to assess optimal transition pathways from a current centralised to a future more hybrid system. Challenges and opportunities were to be assessed jointly with a group of representatives of today’s water infrastructure sector.

 [LB1]Which industry? water management or modular infrastructure? Suggestion: 
«in the emerging modular water management industry”

Results

Modular water treatment system in practice

Modular water treatment systems have experienced strong innovation activities in the past years, especially in terms of new treatment technologies, new monitoring and remote control concepts, but also new business models and governance approaches around the world. Furthermore, we see an increasing number of experiments with modular water infrastructures both globally and within Switzerland. The first fully functional systems are on the market and civil society, companies and cities are starting to implement them. 

High water quality with modular solutions

The quality of the treated wastewater can be brought to levels comparabe to those of centralised plants, while sensoring and remote operation systems enable reliable and profitable business models and effective governance approaches. Appropriate governance structures are currently being developed, but they pose a challenge to current capabilities and resources of utilities, owners and regulators. 

Cost estimates for modular water infrastructures

Cost assessments of transition pathways towards more hybrid infrastructures in selected Swiss municipalities show that implementation of existing modular systems would already be cost efficient today. This is not only the case for very remote houses, but also extends to peri-urban areas and central city districts, for instance in re-developments of former industrial areas. A future decrease in costs will substantially increase the overall market potential for these systems. 

Great potential in rainwater management

Operators, planners and regulators of the Swiss urban water management sector consider these developments to be relevant for their present and future investment decisions. They point to high uncertainties and unclear incentive structures that currently prevent a more proactive engagement with modular alternatives. However, they see considerable future potential, in particular in the context of new approaches to rainwater management. Close coordination between the different parties will be important when it comes to reaping the benefits of such a transition while preventing sunk costs and problem shifts in the future.

Implications for research

We contributed to innovation and governance studies on sustainability transitions. We developed a new methodology to assess socio-technical transformation dynamics. We further contributed to a better understanding of the governance structures needed to implement more hybrid infrastructures. We investigated how mixes of policies and policy instruments – where traditional instruments, such as regulatory and economic tools are supplemented with procedural tools of participation and user responsibility – can facilitate such transition processes and how grassroots initiatives could contribute.

Implications for practice

Comix co-devised scenarios for potential developments of modular infrastructures in Switzerland with a broad range of stakeholders. This will inform future investment and regulation strategies aiming for more sustainable management of water resources at the level of the confederation, cantons and municipalities. We also developed a dynamic cost-assessment tool to analyse what a transition should look like and how communal and cantonal planning should organise their future investment plans.