Safe drinking water is becoming an increasingly scarce resource. Climate changes, extensive farming and fast growing urbanisation lead to water crisis. Illegal household connections, uncontrolled use of wells and non-metered connections are only some of the consequences. Nevertheless, in many cities and conurbations in the world, up to 50 % of water is still lost in supply systems. The ongoing climate change with increasing sealing of the landscape leads to floods, which are becoming more and more difficult to manage due to insufficient or unmaintained drainage systems.

Insufficient pressure or leaking pipelines on one hand, and/or intermittent supply on the other hand are the main causes of contamination of water in supply pipelines. Inadequate asset management, lack of knowledge of operation and maintenance on the part of personnel, and an often inappropriate tariff system are further challenges of the 21st century. Therefore, finding new ways and state of the art solutions are essential.