Water Services Management

Water services include water supply, sewerage and stormwater drainage. The facilities needed for these services are pipelines, reservoirs and treatment works; but the service goes beyond the infrastructure and includes economics, billing, and business management. Although these services exist in every city, being advanced by the growing use of automation and information technology, costs are also increasing without many consumers seeing increased benefits. Customer service is therefore becoming important to the industry.

Water Services Management is intended to educate engineers to manage and improve water services, rather than simply designing and constructing treatment works and distribution systems. The book covers water supply and drainage from the hydraulic and economic points of view, and while design and construction practices are reviewed, the focus of Water Services Management is on improving existing systems to turn the emerging industry into an attractive business.

Topics covered include:
· Potable water supply, sewerage and stormwater drainage;
· Hydraulic management: storage, peak flow attenuation and pumping;
· Water quality: standards, pollution control and treatment;
· Infrastructure management: rehabilitation, reconstruction, upgrading and maintenance;
· Economic efficiency: asset management, privatization, and risk analysis;
· Improving economic viability via efficient use of energy and construction project management.

Characteristics encountered in developing countries are also considered, including:
· Low cost sanitation, water supply standards and off-grid energy sources;
· Capacity building and appropriate technologies;
· Financing, operation and benchmarking.

David Stephenson is Professor of Water Engineering at the University of Botswana. He is also Professor Emeritus at the University of the Witwatersrand and a Visiting Professor at the University of Stuttgart.