IWA Utility Management Conference

Pressures on energy and natural resources,compounded by the financial crisis of the past year and new challenges broughtabout by climate change are some of the major challenges that water utilitiesin Europe and the rest of the world face.

The European Commission, through theWater Framework Directive has illustrated water priorities of the EC and setsmanagement and water quality standards for application throughout Europe. The accent is on efficiency and ensuring thatwater, as a resource that is continuously becoming scarcer, is not wasted andthat the quality of the water remains high.

Throughout Europe water utilities facechallenges of how to streamline efficiencies, adapt to climate change, the water andenergy nexus, pricing and financing, community engagement, legislation andregulations and non-revenuewater (NRW). For instance, NRW is simply water that has been produced and is ‘lost' before it reaches theconsumer. Such ‘pointless' losses are detrimental to the financial viability ofwater utilities, as well to the quality of water itself.

"The InternationalWater Association has introduced a utility conference organised by utilities,for utilities. It will take place from 10to 12 May 2010 in Barcelona,Spain. Theconference is in response to the challenges that utilitiesface. It will provide a unique opportunity to focus on the strategicchallenges and opportunities for water and wastewater utilities. The three dayscovers the full scope of utility management and gives operators an opportunityto share solutions to the prevailing challenges and hear from your peers howthey increase efficiencies in their utilities", says Emma Rose, IWA ProgrammesOfficer.

The conference willaddress emerging trends, innovation andleadership, challenges experienced by the Mediterranean region, communicationsand community engagement, workforce planning, pricing and financing, organisationalstructuring, pathways for rapid improvements, legislation and regulations, water,climate and energy - adaptation and mitigation, non-revenue water and WaterOperator Partnerships.

The conference is supported by theAgbar Foundation.