I have been following the ...

I have been following the water sector since 1989 and have a business background in finance (technology and environmental services) and an academic background in applied ecology. David Lloyd Owen 

My thoughts:

[1] Finance is always going to be hard to come by. Unless there is a hard driver (e.g. targets set since 1989 after the privatisation of the WaSCs in England and Wales or EU complience in Denmark), the political will and public acceptance for funding water and wastewater services will always be limited. The USA is a case in point, where we are told X needs to be spent in the next 20 years by the US EPA and it never is.

[2] Data is feeble. Look at the telecomms and electrical utilities; hard data at the national and utility level is available worldwide. For water, we have schemes, hints and hinterlands. 'You cannot manage what you cannot measure'.

[3] Water is not scarce, political will and management ability is. This paraphrases many conversations with @Asit Biswas. Forget the scarcity cliches, they are a comfort blanket. Live within our means, this is what we have and we apear to insist on misusing it.

[4] Water has a value. When water is free, so are cholera and dystentry. You cannot sustainably manage something that is seen as being worthless. There has to be an incentive to use it in a sustainable manner.

[5] Innovation is the mother of demand management. Instead of chucking water all over the place, why not use it in the most efficient manner possible? Demand management allied with smart water approaches can drive down municipal / domestic water demand down by 20-50%, industrial water by 20-80% and irrigation water by 30-80%.