Assessing the need

Of all the factors involved in a successful solution, the single most important may be the most basic of all: a clear, informed agreement on the problem.

It’s all too easy to jump to conclusions. Yet the ‘obvious’ solution may not always be the right one. Experience, expertise, and open discussion rooted in comprehensive information and mutual respect are key. At Biwater, we speak from experience and act with expertise, but firstly, and most crucially, we listen. We talk to Ministers, local water engineers and their advisors, directly addressing the water related issues they face.

We look to establish current and projected water needs, alongside assessing the current provision. Very often we find problems actually have less to do with supply than with distribution (leakage) and/or use (wastage). We look underground, where as much as 90% of water infrastructure lies, all too often overlooked in favour of visible installations. We look at attitudes and behaviours; how they have arisen, how they may be influenced. We look at tariffs, at communication, at the cost-benefit ratios of repair and refurbishment versus new build. We look at the cost implications of proposed water solutions, and what finance options may be available to meet them.

We look, in short, for the most efficient, appropriate and cost-effective way to address the real issue, as the fundamental foundation for a treated water solution that will best meet needs – now and for decades to come.