A Southeast European water company transforms its masterplan

The challenge: supporting a massive metropolitan city with limited water sources

As populations grow, governments must develop their water systems to keep pace. But what do you do when you manage a large metropolitan city that’s growing fast, but your existing water supplies are already stretched?

One water company faced this challenge and relied on several water sources to sustain rapid growth across its city. Many of these sources were distributed unevenly and far from populated areas, demanding costly, complex water transport. And they were under threat from climate change impacts.

To overcome these challenges and strengthen operations, the company appointed Royal HaskoningDHV to revitalise its masterplan. We also suggested improvements to water strategy and facilities.

The solution: an integrated, sustainable water masterplan

We made recommendations across the company’s water strategy.

• Drinking water: We tailored the company’s masterplan to better supply a growing population. That included developing technology to make better use of local rivers to supply water and running campaigns to convince citizens to drink the city’s safe tap water.
• Wastewater: We developed new hydraulic models, updated treatment plans, and delivered an integrated water management workshop to find ways to extract more resources from wastewater.
• Stormwater management: We modelled stormwater patterns so the company could see how much capacity it needed to deal with storms, avoid flooding, and reduce inflow into sewers and treatment plants.
• Organisational structure: We helped break down monitoring silos and encouraged development at 35 district offices to identify leakages, serve citizens, and cooperate with city administration and others on sustainability initiatives.

The result: improved collaboration that enables more sustainable, efficient practices

All our recommendations combined enables the water company to make the most of the city’s water and operate more sustainably. And they help more departments within the company – and local government – work together to create a water sensitive city.

With the masterplan from Royal HaskoningDHV and several local partners, the company has the opportunity to maintain a consistent strategy throughout. So even when board members change, and the central government introduces new environmental regulations, our client is able to make consistent progress towards its strategic water goals.

It all adds up to ensure a thriving city that’s safer, more economical, and ready to support a growing population.