Climate change's ripple effect on water supply systems and the water-energy nexus – A review

Abstract

In light of observed climate change dynamics, including intensified precipitation events, prolonged arid spells, and elevating sea and ocean levels, water supply infrastructures face escalating challenges. Some regions are facing significant damage, with failures in network components leading to losses of up to 30 %, while globally, can escalate to tens of millions of cubic meters of water. The spatial analysis of energy consumption in abstraction, transmission, and treatment processes per cubic meter of water carried out in this article highlights the impact of climate change on the choice of specific unit process methods. Consequently, clarifying the complex interaction between water and energy attempted in this work assumes paramount importance in ecological and economic water supply network planning.

Keywords

• Water supply system
• Water management
• Climate change
• Energy consumption
• Water-energy nexus