The long-standing, linear approach of extracting freshwater, treating it, using it, collecting it, and disposing of it is no longer viable. This is particularly true in the Australian and New Zealand context, where most urban centres are vulnerable to variable and declining water resources and the disposal of biosolids to landfill or the oceans is no longer acceptable.
Over recent decades, the water industry has transitioned from the delivery of basic centralised water, sanitation, and storm-water services as discrete and separate systems, towards the protection of waterways and in some cases towards a whole of water cycle approach, which includes water recycling.
Since the turn of the 21st century, the focus has been on integrated water planning that considers how we view, value and manage water on multiple scales – from local communities to the national level.
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