Abstract

Public water systems include many subsystems, such as water sources, potable water supply, wastewater management, sewerage, and the infrastructure, required for maintaining and managing these services. Managing these systems involves dealing with many issues, such as risks associated with public and environmental health, system efficiency, system life cycle, demand management, and economic sustainability. Other factors to be considered include changing weather and climate, varying population demographics, and evolving technologies. This chapter first looks at the various subsystems and causes of risk and then discusses risk management and acceptable risks.