Recipient organisationUniversity of ExeterSource-published name: University of Exeter
Funding£1.5M
PeriodMar 2013 — Aug 2018
In plain English
AI plain-English summary
Britain’s water systems are heading for failure unless the 19th-century design principles behind them are replaced. The current approach—built on assumptions of plentiful water, stable climate, and predictable demand—has delivered high drinking water standards and reduced leakage and flooding, but it cannot cope with the combined pressures of climate change, population growth, urbanisation, and tighter regulation. This fellowship aims to develop a new framework for urban water management called Safe & SuRe, which adds sustainability and resilience to the traditional safety goals of public health, flood control, and environmental protection. Over five years, the researcher will build a quantitative evaluation tool to test which strategies can address water scarcity, urban flooding, and river pollution, working with academics and stakeholders to produce best-practice guidance. If successful, the work could reshape how UK cities design, operate, and adapt their water infrastructure—not just fixing pipes but rethinking the entire system so it can bend rather than break under future shocks. The impact would be invisible to most people, but it would keep taps running, streets dry, and rivers clean in a changing world.
View original technical description
The water sector in the UK has, by many measures, been very successful. In England and Wales, drinking water standards stands at over 99.9%, water pipe leakage is down by a third, sewer flooding reduced by more three quarters in the last 10 years and bathing water standards are at record high levels. This success has been achieved using a 19th century design approach based on the idea of plentiful resources, unrestrained demand and a stable climate. However, a perfect storm of climate change, increasing population, urbanisation, demographic shifts and tighter regulation is brewing! Each one of these challenges is a threat to the water sector and, taken in isolation, existing approaches may be able to cope. Taken together and compounded by the speed, size and uncertainty of change, the system is heading for failure unless something radical is done. The current way of working looks increasingly out of date and out of step with emerging thinking and best practice in some leading nations. This fellowship aims to meet these emerging challenges and global uncertainties head on by developing a new approach to water management in UK cities. The starting point is a new vision that is: Safe & SuRe. In a sense, our existing water systems are all about safety goals: public health, flood management and environmental protection. These are important and still need to be respected, but they are NOT sufficient to rise to the coming challenges. In the new world of rapid and uncertain change, water systems in cities must also be Sustainable and Resilient. Only a 'Safe & SuRe' system can be moulded, adapted and changed to face the emerging threats and resulting impacts. In this fellowship. my vision will be developed, tested and championed into practice over a period of 5 years. It will draw from multi-disciplinary collaboration with leading academics inside and outside the field. A comprehensive, quantitative evaluation framework will be developed to test in detail what options or strategies can contribute towards a Safe & SuRe water future, focussing on the challenges of water scarcity, urban flooding and river pollution. Recommendations and best practice guidance will be developed in conjunction with key stakeholders.
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