Smart water: solutions to revolutionize water management

Reading time 8 min. #water #city #community #industrial #building manager

Tim Huang
CEO, Technologies and Products for water technologies activities, Veolia

Water presents the core of various contemporary global challenges. Every day, I observe the growing impact of population growth, climate change, and urbanization on this vital resource. Challenges are intensifying worldwide: increasing scarcity, emerging pollutants, stricter regulations, rising costs, and growing expectations from the public.

Today, the cities, industries, and building managers we work with are facing a complex equation illustrated in: provide safe, high-quality, and affordable water for all, while managing costs and complying with increasingly demanding standards. In light of these challenges, both public decision-makers and private actors are seeking concrete and reliable solutions.

This is where so-called smart water management truly comes into play. By integrating advanced technologies powered by digital technologies and artificial intelligence, it is now possible to anticipate risks, optimize operations, secure every drop, and build long-term resilience. At Veolia, we have chosen to invest heavily in innovation, research and development, digitalization, and the combination of our expertise to provide our customers with ‘smart water’ solutions, from sustainable desalination and wastewater reuse to digital twins.

I invite you to discover how these solutions can revolutionize your water management and address your challenges.

Major challenges in water management: unprecedented pressure

The pressure on water resources has never been greater. By 2030, 40% of the global population could face a fresh water shortage. Therefore, cities must ensure access to safe drinking water for growing populations, while also dealing with periods of drought and groundwater pollution. At the same time, industries are facing ever-increasing demands for water quality and availability, driven by the emergence of new pollutants (such as PFAS, pharmaceutical residues, and microplastics), strict regulations, and a rising need for cooling or process water. Building managers—particulary in the healthcare sector—must ensure safety, efficiency, and reduced consumption, all while minimizing operational risks.
Additionally, as infrastructure ages—particularly water networks—leaks account for millions of cubic meters lost each year, at a time when every drop counts. Municipalities and industries must modernize their infrastructure to reduce losses and ensure continuous service.

Given these challenges, traditional water management approaches are reaching their limits. By integrating connected equipment, real-time monitoring, and predictive analytics, it becomes possible to transform water management into a driver of performance, resilience, and sustainability.

Overview of solutions for efficient and resilient water management

To address these challenges, we rely on our proven innovative solutions to sustainably manage the entire water cycle, from drinking water treatment to wastewater management. Our main mission is to protect public health, quality of life, and purchasing power. Here, I would like to present a wide range of our solutions, all of which have demonstrated their effectiveness across the various regions where we operate

"We share a common pride: from drinking water production to the reuse of wastewater and resource recovery, from the production of ultrapure water to the removal of micropollutants and microplastics, our water management technologies and solutions play a vital role in driving ecological transformation."

• Sustainable desalination

Among the key solutions to address water security challenges, sustainable desalination ensures a reliable water supply in regions facing water stress, while drastically reducing energy consumption through optimized processes. Reverse osmosis, which accounts for 70% of new seawater desalination installations worldwide, perfectly illustrates this approach. The principle is simple: under high pressure, saltwater passes through a semi-permeable membrane that filters salts and impurities, resulting in high-quality fresh water.

Combined with advanced pre-treatment technologies, such as dissolved air flotation clarification, reverse osmosis membrane filtration can reduce the energy consumption of a desalination plant by five times compared to thermal technologies (2.9 kWh/m³), leading to significant reductions in production costs and CO₂ emissions.

• Digital twins

Digital twins are virtual replicas of physical infrastructure and operations. These true 3D models of plants and networks provide a precise description of the current state of the system while developing predictive analyses of its future evolution, based on data collected in real time. With this data and advanced algorithms, they generate optimal setpoints for control parameters and actionable insights for operations teams. This technology enables performance optimization and risk reduction, from water production to distribution.
Combined with AI and millions of sensors, digital twins are revolutionizing water management by offering predictive insights through data analysis: early leak detection, preventative maintenance, and optimized crisis management.

• Wastewater reuse

In short, water reuse is a sustainable water management method that involves recycling wastewater after it is treated at a treatment plant, and reusing it for agricultural irrigation, watering green spaces, or certain industrial processes. Depending on the intended use, we employ the most advanced technologies to remove sediments, bacteria, and micropollutants from the water, such as membrane filtration, lamella settling, or ultraviolet disinfection.

In water-stressed Thailand, we are supporting the One Bangkok development to reduce freshwater dependency and manage wastewater responsibly. Veolia responded with an integrated treatment system featuring several innovative technologies for treating both stormwater and tertiary wastewater. This integrated approach enables One Bangkok to reuse 1,200 to 1,500 cubic meters of water daily — equivalent to half an Olympic swimming pool. At full capacity, the system will treat and recycle approximately 10,000 cubic meters daily, comparable to four Olympic swimming pools.

Treated wastewater can also be used to help recharge groundwater, ensuring a resilient water supply. This technique involves infiltrating purified wastewater into the ground to replenish underground water reserves. The treated water is directed to infiltration basins or injected directly into the aquifer.

In extreme cases of water stress, advanced treatment allows wastewater to be turned into drinking water.

• Ecofactory

An Ecofactory transforms a traditional wastewater treatment plant into a resource-positive facility. This low-carbon, energy-positive plant goes beyond conventional wastewater treatment by using wastewater to produce various resources: biogas, heat, fertilizers, and treated water for reuse. As a municipality, you can convert your traditional treatment plant into a resource-producing center that benefits your entire community.

• PFAS treatment

For municipalities, our solutions focus on treating drinking water with activated carbon adsorption and membrane filtration technologies. On the industrial side, our approach varies according to sectors and matrices. In industries like aeronautics or chemicals, where concentrations can be very high, we deploy high-temperature thermal destruction or electrochemical oxidation processes. Recognizing the complexity of the challenge, Veolia has developed BeyondPFAS, an integrated management solution to support municipalities and industries in the detection, treatment, and elimination of PFAS. This solution leverages the Group's international expertise and innovative technologies, tailored to each regulatory and environmental context. 

Financing and regulatory framework

The adoption of smart technologies for water management represents a strategic investment that quickly pays for itself through cost savings and risk reduction. . 

From a regulatory perspective, compliance with quality standards, health and safety regulations, and pollutant management (such as PFAS and micropollutants) is ensured by proven and certified technologies. Solutions for reuse, desalination, and advanced treatment are designed to anticipate regulatory changes, while also making it easier to access funding dedicated to ecological transition and territorial resilience.

Smart water: our key references

These examples illustrate how intelligent water technologies deliver economic, environmental, and regulatory benefits across diverse sectors.

• Hubgrade: the power of data and AI to optimize water treatment

As Veolia's unique range of digital services, Hubgrade provides data analytics, supervision, optimization and predictive systems especially for water. In Canada, the Coca-Cola plant in Weston was meeting non-compliance events due to the change in the wastewater quality, facing difficulties maintaining the effluent’s pH between 6 and 10. Thanks to the Hubgrade data analytics module and real-time monitoring, the plant could resolve technical issues on effluent and influent valves quickly.

• Ultrapure water for an industrial client in Singapore

We supported the global leader in integrated circuit and semiconductor solutions, one of Singapore’s major manufacturers of 12-inch wafers to secure their supply of ultrapure water with a treatment plant boasting a capacity of 160 m³/h. Our solution is optimized for cost and meets the highest quality standards. Our innovative approach: an EDI (electrodeionization) system that operates chemical-free, 24/7.

Recovery of strategic metals and salts in Japan

Thanks to our advanced technical processes (thermal, membrane, and electrolytic separation) and evaporative crystallization, we provide innovative solutions for the recovery of strategic metals and salts. In Japan, in partnership with Arcadium Lithium, we have established the region’s first facility converting lithium carbonate into battery-grade lithium hydroxide, achieving 90% capacity within three months.

Treating PFAS in the United States

In the United States, Veolia has become the leading private water services operator and pioneer in PFAS management, with approximately thirty regulated PFAS treatment sites already set up for clients across six states. In June 2025, we inaugurated one of the country’s largest PFAS treatment plants in Delaware. The Stanton facility can treat nearly 120 million liters of water per day, supplying high-quality drinking water for more than 100,000 residents. This project demonstrates our ability to deliver industrial-scale solutions while meeting economic constraints.

The World’s Most Energy-Efficient Desalination Plant in the United Arab Emirates

The Hassyan seawater desalination plant in Dubai will be the world’s second largest desalination facility using reverse osmosis technology, producing 818,000 m³/day of drinking water for 2 million people. This project stands out for its exceptional energy efficiency, with a very low energy consumption rate of 2.9 kilowatt-hours per cubic meter (kWh/m³), far below thermal technologies.

Towards smarter, more efficient and resilient water management

In the face of climate urgency and demographic pressures, smart water management is no longer an option, it is a necessity. The technologies are available, proven results are emerging, and funding and incentives are increasingly accessible. By adopting intelligent water management, you are choosing performance, resilience, and sustainability. Cutting-edge technologies and innovation make it possible to preserve and secure water resources, optimize costs, and meet regulatory requirements, all while contributing to ecological transition.

Based on the many projects we have undertaken with our clients, I am convinced that collaborative innovation is the key to designing resilient and adaptable communities, industries, and buildings that can withstand the impacts of climate change.

I invite you to explore with us the solutions best suited to your specific needs, so that together we can build a future where water remains accessible, high-quality, and affordable for all. Don't wait for challenges to become crises: let's make smart water management a strategic asset for your future.