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An urban water system (UWS) has three main service components: (i) drinking-water; (ii) waste-water; and (iii) storm-water. Historically, each component in urban water development evolved over time with different objectives for 'different' types of water. Even today, the trend continues, as different urban water services are managed in silos. This trend is less sustainable, resilient, and reliable, mainly because of significant pressures on freshwater supplies exerted by the increasing population, demand for high living standards, rapid urbanization, and climate change. To cope with these challenges, the conventional thinking needs to change. This paper identifies a number of significant research gaps related to inter-relationships among various UWS service components. An innovative paradigm, the 'one water' approach (OWA), which considers 'urban water' as a single entity, is investigated herein. Currently, Australia, the USA, and Singapore are leading the implementation of the OWA, whereas only a few Canadian municipalities have embraced OWA at a very basic level. Among the EU nations, the Netherlands have emphasized the need for integrated water resource management in an urban environment. This review highlights the challenges in adopting the OWA, and also proposes guiding principles in ongoing water management practices. Institutional complexities involving an intricate regulatory structure for different UWS service components, a wider fragmentation in decision making at government levels, and insufficient stakeholder engagement within and between water utilities and other institutions present serious challenges. Various strategies such as, data sharing between water utilities, use of novel technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence, sensor technologies), and visionary leadership at different government levels have been identified as key drivers for the adoption and implementation of the OWA. The authors believe that a paradigm shift from 'conventional' approach to OWA is needed to increase resiliency and reliability of water services and assist decision-makers of UWSs. Key words: drinking-water, waste-water, storm-water, one-water approach, sustainability. Un systeme d'eau en milieu urbain (SEU) comporte trois composantes de service principales : (i) l'eau potable; (ii) les eaux usees et (iii) les eaux pluviales. Historiquement, chaque composante du developpement des eaux en milieu urbain a evolue au fil du temps avec des objectifs differents pour des types d'eau << differents >>. Aujourd'hui encore, la tendance se poursuit, car les differents services d'eau en milieu urbain sont geres en silos. Cette tendance est moins durable, moins resiliente et moins fiable, principalement en raison des pressions importantes exercees sur les reserves d'eau douce par l'accroissement de la population, la demande de niveaux de vie eleves, l'urbanisation rapide et les changements climatiques. Pour faire face a ces defis, un changement s'impose dans la pensee conventionnelle. Cet article identifie un certain nombre de lacunes importantes dans la recherche sur les interrelations entre les differents composants des SEU. Un paradigme innovant - l'approche de gestion integree de l'eau (GIE) (one-water approach - OWA), qui considere les<< eaux urbaines>> comme une entite unique, est etudie. Actuellement, l'Australie, les Etats-Unis et Singapour sont en tete de peloton pour la mise en ceuvre de la GIE, tandis que seules quelques municipalites canadiennes ont adopte la GIE a un niveau tres elementaire. Dans les pays de l'Union europeenne, les Pays-Bas a souligne la necessite d'une gestion integree des ressources en eau dans un environnement urbain. Cette etude met en evidence les defis lies a l'adoption de la GIE et propose egalement des principes directeurs pour les pratiques actuelles de gestion de l'eau. Les complexites institutionnelles impliquant une structure reglementaire complexe pour les differents composants des SEU, une fragmentation plus large de la prise de decision au niveau gouvernemental et un engagement insuffisant des parties prenantes au sein et entre les services d'eau et les autres institutions representent des defis importants. Diverses strategies telles que le partage des donnees entre les services d'eau, l'utilisation de nouvelles technologies (par exemple, l'intelligence artificielle, les technologies des capteurs), et un leadership visionnaire a differents niveaux du gouvernement ont ete identifies comme des facteurs cles pour l'adoption et la mise en ceuvre de la GIE. Les auteurs estiment qu'un changement de paradigme de l'approche<< conventionnelle >>vers la GIE est necessaire pour augmenter la resilience et la fiabilite des services d'eau et aider les decideurs des SEU. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: eau potable, eaux usees, eaux pluviales, gestion integree de l'eau, durabilite., Introduction Preamble An urban water system (UWS) comprises three main service components: drinking-water; waste-water; and storm-water. Drinkingwater systems include the supply of potable water to citizens for drinking, while in [...]

Performance assessment of Small and Medium-Sized Water Systems (SMWSs) is important for operational, tactical, and strategic decision-making. In this study, a performance assessment method has been developed and applied to five drinking water, three wastewater, and two stormwater utilities using 39, 30 and 27 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in a semi-arid region. The KPIs were aggregated to determine a performance index using a Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution method. K-nearest neighbors and penalty methods were used to estimate missing KPIs data. The results indicated that only two drinking water utilities and one wastewater utility had been rated as 'high' performance. None of the utilities in stormwater performance was rated as 'high'. The developed method can assist decision-makers in evaluating SMWSs performance holistically, build operational management strategies, and identify necessary interventions in overcoming water systems challenges across each urban water system component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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