Resilience and Sustainability of the Water Sector during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented socio-economic changes, ushering in a “new (ab)normal” way of living and human interaction. The water sector was not spared from the effects of the pandemic, a period in which the sector had to adapt rapidly and continue providing innovative water and sanitation solutions. This study unpacks and interrogates approaches, products, and services adopted by the water sector in response to the unprecedented lockdowns, heralding novel terrains, and fundamental paradigm shifts, both at the community and the workplace. The study highlights the wider societal perspective regarding the water and sanitation challenges that grappled society before, during, after, and beyond the pandemic. The premise is to provide plausible transitional pathways towards a new (ab)normal in adopting new models, as evidenced by the dismantling of the normal way of conducting business at the workplace and human interaction in an era inundated with social media, virtual communication, and disruptive technologies, which have transitioned absolutely everything into a virtual way of life. As such, the novel approaches have fast-tracked a transition into the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), with significant trade-offs to traditional business models and human interactions.

Good Governance and Resilience in Providing Public Services in Times of Pandemic: The Case of Water and Sanitation Services in Bucharest

“…The COVID-19 crisis acted as a challenge for the national and subnational quality of governance, showcasing the public and private institutions' capabilities and vulnerabilities. The unprecedented events induced by the pandemic required organizations to be very flexible, adapt rapidly, and change their operations dramatically (Goldin et al, 2022). In this particular context, public utilities companies were very much challenged and had to figure out solutions in order to continue providing the much-needed services.…”

Implementation and Integration of Sustainability in the Water Industry: A Systematic Literature Review

“…The challenge of urbanization is maintaining water quality and meeting the inherent needs of customers in both rural and urban areas. Individuals living in urban areas often face water scarcity or consume polluted water due to low supply levels [61,71,97]. World Economic Forum reports that there is a projected gap of 40% by 2030 between the supply and demand of water.…”

COVID-19 and organisational resilience in Brazil's water sector

“…The companies' performance from the water professionals' perspective was scored, via a structured questionnaire, considering two scenarios (before and during the pandemic). Recently, similar studies have been developed to assess the water sector responses and the impacts on projects, practices and workers ( Antwi et al, 2021 ; Capodeferro and Smiderle, 2020 ; Goldin et al, 2022 ; Lawson et al, 2020 ; Renukappa et al, 2021 ; Spearing et al, 2021 ). To the best of our knowledge, there are no prior studies measuring the water sector organisational resilience in Brazil.…”