The United States faces a critical challenge as its infrastructure, particularly water treatment facilities, grapples with the impacts of ageing. This issue is complex, encompassing plant deterioration, leaks, and operational inefficiencies, all contributing to increased operational costs and risks of water supply interruptions. The looming threats of extreme weather events, intensified by climate change, further underscore the urgency of upgrading the ageing infrastructure to ensure resilience and compliance with evolving regulations, which require more treatment and processes.
Lior Croll, VP of Assets and Developments at IDE Technologies
To understand the issues and what we can do to approach these challenges, we engaged with Lior Croll, VP of Assets and Developments at IDE Technologies to shed light on how they tackle the challenges posed by ageing water infrastructure in the United States. IDE Technologies is a global leader in sustainable water treatment solutions. They propose a comprehensive approach that involves the construction, financing, and operation of modern water treatment plants using cutting-edge technology. They explain the strategic collaboration with the public sector through Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) and how it becomes a cornerstone in addressing these challenges.
What are the challenges posed by ageing water infrastructure in the United States?
Some of the challenges are plant deterioration, leaks, and other inefficiencies, which cause risks of lack of availability and supply, in addition to increased costs of operation, maintenance, repairs and replacements.
There are also risks of complete shutdown and inability to provide water to residents and communities, standing through challenging weather like hurricanes and floods which we see more and more in an era of climate change. New technologies and government regulations that impose more stringent requirements for water quality make the ageing infrastructure outdated and with a risk of compliance and maintaining public safety.
Why are municipalities and governments facing increasing costs in addressing ageing water infrastructure issues?
Costs are increasing due to inefficiencies of older technologies, rising costs of services, equipment, chemicals and consumables, much higher ongoing costs of maintenance, and frequent repair and replacements. The challenges of these unexpected costs can come in times of budget constraints and may require shifting budgets from other projects for urgent or major repairs of ageing water infrastructure.
How does IDE Technologies address the challenges fueled by ageing water infrastructure in the United States?
IDE Technologies is a world leader in advanced water treatment solutions. We propose to address this challenge by renewing water infrastructure through long-term partnerships, and by constructing, financing and operating modern water treatment plants using state-of-the-art technology. We believe it is of strategic importance to execute projects through collaborative partnerships with the public sector to help finance, construct and operate them according to the public sector and customers’ needs, solving present and future challenges while optimising risks and costs.
How can Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) serve as an alternative to traditional procurement methods for water infrastructure projects?
P3s or other commercial structures of partnership and collaboration have many advantages that can serve as ways to promote water infrastructure projects, such as accelerating the delivery timeline, optimising risk allocation between public and private entities and achieving long-term capex-opex optimisation. The big advantage here is the fact that a true partnership and open communications can draw the advantages that each side has to offer.
What specific advantages do P3s offer in terms of accelerating project delivery, cost reduction, and improving the quality of water treatment services?
P3s can save significant time through a quicker and less cumbersome procurement process, leveraging private sector expertise which can save years of development, and millions of dollars. The risk of completing construction on time to reach commercial operation dates lies with the private sector, which must know how to handle these timelines and expectations. For cost reduction and improving quality of service, risk sharing allows each side to take risks it is most comfortable with, hence reducing risk levels and the overall price of water – and improving the service.
Having a technology and operation company (like IDE) as a partner ensures the plant is designed for efficient operation in the long term – at a lower cost through capex-opex optimisation. Also, it holds the private sector accountable for the performance of the plant. A clear and defined budget for the long term – without costs of deferred maintenance or inefficiencies – provides the public sector peace of mind, especially knowing the equipment of the water treatment plant will be maintained with the market’s most advanced technologies for decades.
Can you provide examples of successful P3s that have driven positive change in addressing ageing water infrastructure challenges?
The Ft. Lauderdale water treatment plant is a great example, which is being developed by IDE and its partners via a creative P3 collaboration with the City of Ft Lauderdale. The plant construction is already underway, and the city’s old water treatment plant will be replaced with a new, state-of-the-art facility, solving the ongoing water problems and addressing existing and upcoming regulations.
Another good example is the Vista Ridge pipeline which provides sustainable supply to the City of San Antonio.
How can the collaboration between the public and private sectors be optimised to effectively address the complexities of ageing water infrastructure in the United States?
The collaboration can be optimised through a deep understanding of the public entity’s needs, challenges and capabilities, and the private side’s abilities and advantages.
Communication and collaboration are key, and each project and customer will require a different solution. P3 agreements shouldn’t be a “one size fits all” template, instead, each agreement and partnership must be thoughtfully developed and address their unique pain points and challenges.
Defined roles and responsibilities, transparent agreements, and a shared commitment to long-term sustainability goals are critical in these partnerships. This collaboration can leverage the strengths of both sectors to address complexities efficiently.
A Quick Summary!
As the United States confronts the critical challenges of ageing water infrastructure, IDE Technologies emerges as a beacon of innovation and collaboration and leads the charge towards a resilient and sustainable water future in the United States.
IDE’s approach involves constructing, financing, and operating modern water treatment plants through strategic collaborations and Public-Private Partnerships (P3s). These collaborations, exemplified by successful projects like the Fort Lauderdale water treatment plant, accelerate project delivery, reduce costs, and improve water treatment services.
The optimisation of collaboration between the public and private sectors is crucial, with defined roles, transparent agreements, and a shared commitment to sustainability ensuring efficient solutions.
