020406080 United Kingdom Norway Japan United States Spain Netherlands70 60 50 45 40 40Years CASE STUDY 4 Arup – A clean water gravity pipeline in Silicon Valley Silicon Valley Clean Water (SVCW) manages a wastewater network and treatment plant serving approximately 220,000 population equivalent (PE) and several global information technology (IT) industry companies in a coastal zone of the San Francisco Bay Area (California, USA), an earthquake- prone region. Facing increasing volumes to treat, in 2017, SVCW approved RESCU, a $580 million programme15 to upgrade its 50-year-old infrastructure to increase its capacity from 272 million litres to 380 million litres. A key component of the project ($253 million) was the replacement of a 5.3-km gravity pipeline that had surpassed its design life.16 Arup, in association with local and international contractors, designed and constructed a new 4-metre-wide concrete tunnel housing a 3-metre-wide fibreglass-reinforced polymer mortar pipeline. Engineered for a 100-year lifespan, roughly twice the age of the original infrastructure, the new main is designed to withstand earthquakes and extreme weather conditions.17 CASE STUDY 5 Tasreef – A stormwater management plan in Dubai In 2024, Dubai was hit by a historic flood caused by record rainfall, resulting in widespread damage and insured losses exceeding €3 billion. In response, the city has approved a major long-term infrastructure initiative, the €7 billion Tasreef project, to comprehensively upgrade its rainwater drainage network.The network will span the entire emirate and deploy advanced tunnelling and drainage technologies, including high-precision tunnel boring machines (TBMs) equipped with automated controls, real-time monitoring and data analytics to ensure safe and efficient excavation. Once completed in 2033, the system will expand the city’s stormwater capacity by 700%, enabling the management of more than 20 million m3 of water per day, with a peak flow of 230 m³ per second.Increasingly frequent and severe hydrological extremes are putting populations and economies at risk worldwide. The World Bank projects that by 2050, cumulative global economic losses from droughts may reach $5.6 trillion, putting at risk about 6% of GDP in vulnerable regions.18 Strengthening water systems to withstand floods and droughts requires a combination of infrastructural, nature-based and technological solutions. Grey infrastructure includes flood protection works, drought-resilient storage and stormwater infrastructure. Nature-based solutions, including wetlands, permeable surfaces and urban green spaces, help manage rainfall and runoff. Technology, including integrated watershed management, early-warning systems and the use of AI-based climate forecasting, plays an increasingly important role by improving risk prediction and optimizing operations.Increase resilience to floods and droughts Bridging the €6.5 Trillion Water Infrastructure Gap: A Playbook 19

Bridging the %E2%82%AC6.5 Trillion Water Infrastructure Gap A Playbook 2025