Enhancing the resilience of drinking water infrastructures

Long term uncertainties in combination with long lifetime of assets of drinking water infrastructures (DWIs) and changing expectations of stakeholders make strategic decisions in drinking water infrastructures (DWIs) complex. A framework with building blocks and design spaces was developed to support these decisions. Building blocks, divided in governance and system properties, were generic resilience enhancing design principles found in literature. The design spaces were defined by characteristics (water quantity, water quality and environmental impact), and the scale dimension. The DWI design principles framework was operationalised in a case study. The case showed that the DWI design principles framework was useful for strategic issues and the results were recognised and accepted by a diverse group of stakeholders. It may also be possible to apply the framework for other water infrastructures with comparable characteristics and dimensions.