Applying Circular Economy in Water Supply and Wastewater Management

Water systems and utilities under the circular economy model ensure that the value and usefulness of resources are preserved for a long time.

In this knowledge sharing session, Claudio de Jesus of Águas de Portugal discussed the opportunity for water utilities to shift from a conventional operational model to one that supports the circular economy, maximizing the use and value of water and conserving both natural and financial capital.

Riad Imam Mahmud

Riad Imam Mahmud is Country Director Max Foundation Bangladesh since 2012, and the Co-founder Managing Director of Max Social Enterprise, a spin-off piped water business, since 2019. He has led the organization to reach 3 million people, with significant impact on reduction of child stunting (from 51 to 25% between 2016-2021) through Max Foundation’s signature Healthy Village approach, the program he innovated in 2015.

Martin Shouler

I am the London Water Leader at the international engineering and technical consultancy Arup. I bring design and advisory water expertise to projects across Building Engineering and Infrastructure.

I lead on the City Water Resilience Approach (CWRA) which supports design and helps prioritise interventions to enhance urban water resilience in cities from Miami to Addis Ababa and from Cape Town to Hull.

Chris Shanks

Chris Shanks is a senior hydrogeologist for Tonkin + Taylor, with over 12 years of experience as an environmental consultant across New Zealand and wider Australasia. He works almost exclusively on public water supply projects, specialising in strategic planning for groundwater resource development and drinking water source security, where he holds key technical leadership roles on various public water supply projects.

James Young

James Young led the utility in delivering key services to customers on South Tarawa and promote a culture of learning, safety, and excellence within the utility. He also led the utility in a performance improvement process resulting in a more efficient, safer utility where staff is qualified, supported by training, and empowered in their career pathway within the organization.

Asset Management: Condition and Performance

The speakers set the scene with an overview of the discipline of asset management. He highlighted the importance of asset managers knowing their assets as the foundation for the implementation of sound asset management. He also emphasized the importance of good data management as an essential feature of an asset management system. The use of tools such as spreadsheets was highlighted as an effective and low-cost way for utilities to organize and analyze their data.