Economic Pressures White Paper
An illuminating document that aggregates the findings of all six Economic Pressures Roundtable events.

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Dealing with Economic Pressures in the Water Industry

Black & Veatch’s Economic Pressures Roundtable Series White Paper

Synopsis

As industry leaders, we are facing a wide range of water pressures from customers, local policy makers and regulators. Unprecedented economic pressures and financial struggles have challenged all of us to think differently and develop new strategies. That’s why Black & Veatch chose to focus our second annual Water Dialogue series on the theme of “Economic Pressures: How are we adapting and leading in these difficult times?”

The six-part series took place from October 2010 to August 2011 with roundtable discussions in the following locations:

“The larger we can draw our envelope around these systems – like the water sector, energy sector, transportation or agriculture – the more we can bring these resources together.” — WEFTEC.10 Participant
  • New Orleans, Louisiana – Water Environment Federation’s (WEF’s) WEFTEC 10
  • Washington, D.C. – American Water Intelligence’s American Water Summit (AWS)
  • Berlin, Germany – Global Water Intelligence’s  Global Water Summit (GWS)
  • Adelaide, Australia – Australian Water Association’s (AWA’s) OzWater 11
  • Washington, D.C. – American Water Works Association’s (AWWA’s) ACE 11
  • Stockholm, Sweden – Stockholm International Water Institute’s (SIWI’s) World Water Week

Approximately 90 industry leaders from 18 countries took part in the roundtable series. In discussing how to overcome the hurdles and capitalize on the opportunities this challenging global economy presents, participants touched on some important common themes, as well as a range of issues specific to their situations.

“Being green isn’t cheap, but we’re trying to reuse the wastewater, clean it and use it for something that wouldn’t touch the consumer. This would help us be more economical in the plant.” — GWS 2011 Participant

In all six roundtable discussions, participants summed up their current challenges in one phrase: “Do more with less.” They expressed concern about economic pressures they were facing but said they were taking concrete steps to deal with these issues. The industry leaders who took part in the discussions recommended the following actions for adapting and leading in these difficult economic times:

  • Decrease or delay costs
  • Find new business opportunities or revenue streams and then, once identified, put them into play
  • Determine the best source or mix of new and established financing options
  • Facilitate innovation to deal with the new norm and to discover the next big idea
  • Collaborate more closely with all stakeholders and create one voice for water
  • Reach out to educate the public about water issues
“I say that I don’t like to talk about the water cost; I would like to talk about the water value. Let’s talk about that; I’m here to protect the water value, not the water cost.” — ACE 11 Participant

The final three recommendations that arose in all of the roundtable discussions were not specifically related to the changing, challenging times we are experiencing today. However, these general suggestions reflect how the leaders believe the industry should act in the future, no matter what the economic climate.

Because of the collaborative approach these 90 roundtable participants took by openly sharing best practices, others can learn how to overcome the economic hurdles today and capitalize on opportunities to succeed despite the current global challenges.