Water infrastructure renewal is receiving significant attention today as many of our systems are meeting (or exceeding) their design life. Cities in countries with well developed economies like the U.S. enjoy economic prosperity in part due to the development of heavily centralized water systems that create high levels of water quality and public health, on average. While centralized water infrastructure has served us well, we should not be constrained to applying 20th century thinking as we plan for the future.

The development of IT-enabled "smart" hybrid water system solutions has the potential to: improve the efficiency with which we use resources (e.g., water, power, nutrients); enhance equitable access to water services; change consumer and provider behavior around water; and ensure that we sustain a high level of public health, even as more people live in close proximity to each other.