Abstract
Water is a limited global resource that is under pressure because of population rise, urbanization, industrialization, mining, and climatic change. These pressures in an urban setting intensify the need to have effective and integrated water infrastructure planning and management to maintain sustainable water supply. Although infrastructure plays a central role in urban water security, the current literature has been limited on either infrastructure planning or infrastructure asset management, often within the context of operations and maintenance, and little has been done to integrate the two. This fragmentation poses a major challenge in fast developing and resource-limited areas like the Gauteng Province in South Africa, the economic hub of the country, where the water value chain is managed by several state-owned institutions.
It is in this context that this study aimed to determine the effectiveness of integrated water infrastructure planning and management in Gauteng and to establish a coherent framework based on international principles of asset management. The research is framed by the ISO 55000 standards of asset management, which conceptualises infrastructure planning and management as a lifecycle-based multi-stakeholder process that involves planning, acquisition, operation and maintenance, renewal and disposal.
A triangulation approach was undertaken using mixed methods research approach. The method used to gather data was survey questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) group interviews with professionals in national water department, a regional bulk water utility and metropolitan municipalities. The research started with a systematic literature review to determine international practices on water infrastructure planning and management and to determine important barriers to effectiveness. Seven barriers were first identified and then prioritised by use of Pareto analysis.
The results showed that three interconnected barriers have the highest impact on water infrastructure performance, which are low levels of climate resilience planning...