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Key Growth Drivers and Trends in the Water Business
Author(s) -
Maxwell Steve
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.2005.tb10836.x
Subject(s) - consolidation (business) , business , reuse , enforcement , natural resource economics , politics , water industry , merge (version control) , key (lock) , industrial organization , environmental economics , economics , water supply , engineering , finance , environmental engineering , computer security , political science , law , waste management , computer science , information retrieval
This article addresses a handful of key factors that are driving the overall expansion and coalescence of the water industry. These drivers, that include economic and social demands as well as political realities, give rise to various trends and effects, which will likely dominate the water industry for years to come. They include: growing water quality and quantity problems; growing public awareness and concerns about water issues; expansion of regulatory controls and enforcement; huge capital expenditures; changes in privatization and public‐private partnerships; utility consolidation and rearrangement of ownership; more efficient water use by consumers, and greater reliance on recycling and reuse; incremental but inexorable advances in water treatment technologies; growth of consumer power; and, rising water rates.