Dear Colleagues,

Climate change issues have highlighted the need for new approaches in most sectors by considering environmental sustainability, economic development, and energy systems, favoring solutions which not only maximize the short-term benefits of infrastructure investments but also accelerate the transition towards net-zero technologies. Sustainability in infrastructures is the act of creating a reliable infrastructure that can be managed and maintained in accordance with users’ needs and without harmful environmental impacts. Humanity is at a very delicate historical point, where moving in the right direction will guarantee a sustainable planet for future generations. Water infrastructures are unsustainable in their current forms due to notable energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions involved in different processes. For instance, in the UK, the water industry is responsible for 5M tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually and consumed 7.9 TWh of energy in 2006–7. Previous studies have discussed improving the sustainability of water supply through reducing the overall water demand and consequently energy consumption (e.g., reuse of grey water, water leakage mitigation, rainwater harvesting, water metering, and hybrid water supply systems). Nevertheless, a great necessity exists for new methods and technologies to help in retrofitting water infrastructures by solving current sustainability issues. In this context, higher investigations are required in three categories: water and energy efficiency, asset management, and alternative technologies.

This Special Issue focuses on infrastructures in the water sector because:

• The water sector is one of the most energy-intensive sectors, consume 2–3% of global energy. The energy intensity of the water sector is growing, making it a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, up to 80% of the cost of water is associated with the energy required to extract, treat, and distribute it.
• A wide range of capital assets such as pumps, turbines, pipes, and reservoirs usually exist in a water infrastructure, and should be maintained properly to minimize the cost of the repair or replacement while delivering the desired service level.
• Although the usage of renewable energy in the water sector has already been started, progress has been very limited so far and the contribution of energy recovery from the water sector in renewable energies is even less significant.
• Climate change is producing increasing or decreasing trends of rainfall and streamflow patterns in several places around the world; hence, water infrastructures need to be planned considering novel hydraulic proposals that consider future variations of meteorological processes.

In this context, this Special Issue is seeking scientific contributions that can introduce new methods and technologies to achieve more sustainable water infrastructures with less carbon emission consequences. We are looking for solutions at different levels, such as management strategies or new alternative and novel technologies.

Dr. Mohsen Besharat
Dr. Modesto Pérez-Sánchez
Dr. Mariana Simão
Dr. Óscar E. Coronando-Hernández
Guest Editors

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• water infrastructures
• sustainability
• net-zero
• system efficiency
• management