Bridging the 6.5 Trillion Water Infrastructure Gap A Playbook 2025

Growing demand, climate change, technology acceleration and the energy transition are reshaping the water sector. World population is expected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050,1 and per capita water availability has already dropped by more than 60% since the 1960s.2 Industrial demand is also projected to surge, with new digital infrastructure, such as data centres, introducing a new source of water consumption. Inspired by a series of workshops and interviews with key water industry partners at the World Economic Forum, and drawing on significant literature review, this chapter outlines four interconnected drivers that will define the future of the global water industry and should guide investment and policy priorities: 1. Equitable access: Expanding connection to safe drinking water and sanitation for all, particularly in underserved regions. 2. Infrastructure resilience: Upgrading ageing assets and building operational capacity for water infrastructure systems to function and meet users’ needs during and after a shock.3. Circularity and resource recovery: Deploying efficient and sustainable solutions that advance circularity, reuse and resource recovery from water, wastewater and sludge. 4. Innovation for efficiency: Adopting smart water technologies (water-tech) to build up asset health, optimize operations and improve resource management, reducing withdrawals and advancing reuse. These four drivers do not operate in isolation, but reinforce one another. The integration of circularity and innovation has the potential to transform the entire water value chain from a linear process of withdrawal and disposal into a closed-loop system that captures, reuses and regenerates resources. This shift is the foundation of true infrastructure resilience and equitable access, ensuring that every community and every ecosystem can thrive within the limits of available water. Failing to seize this opportunity risks undermining human and environmental health as well as economic development and stability. Water sector transformation drivers FIGURE 4 Mission 1. Equitable Access 2. Infrastructure resilience 3. Circularity and resource recovery 4. InnovationInvestment need (trillion euros)Interventions Best practices 5.3 4.8 1.0 0.3Centralized systems for urban areas, Skid/decentralized systems for rural areasGive global access to basic wastewater and sanitation1.2 District metering, pressure management, AI-powered leakage detectionReduce water leakages 2.1 Advanced materials in water pipelines Revamp ageing infrastructure 2.2 Grey infrastructure, nature-based solutions, climate forecastingIncrease resilience to floods and droughts2.3 Industrial reuse facilities, closed-loop systems, rainwater harvestingScale wastewater reuse 3.1 Microgrids, sludge’s biogas recovery, energy efficient smart technologiesImprove asset’s energy efficiency and resource recovery3.2 PFAS destruction technologiesAccelerate advanced water treatment for micropollutants3.3 SCADA1 and IoT2 monitoring, digital twins, remote sensingDeploy smart technologies 4.1 No-dig repair and trenchless technologies, unmanned robotsScale water-tech solutions 4.2Green desalination, urban wastewater reuse, rainwater harvestingGive global access to affordable and reliable safe drinking water1.1 Note: 1 Supervisory control and data acquisition, a system comprising hardware and software for the remote monitoring and control of industrial processes 2 Internet of things Bridging the €6.5 Trillion Water Infrastructure Gap: A Playbook 13