Addressing the challenge of water security

By 2050, the UN estimates that global water demand will increase by 55%, mainly due to growing demands from manufacturing, thermal electricity generation and domestic use.

Water is at the centre of economic and social development worldwide - vital to maintain health, grow food, protect the environment, and create jobs. Population growth, climate change, and declining water supplies and quality are all challenges to global water security.

The Centre for Water Systems at Exeter is addressing these global challenges through pioneering research and consultancy work in urban water management and hydro-informatics. With links in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Australasia and expertise in water distribution, sewerage and urban drainage, urban flooding, asset management, water efficiency, water quality, sustainability, and climate change resilience, the Centre works in all parts of the urban water cycle.

The Centre for Water Systems is:

  • The UK’s largest research group of its kind and one of the biggest in the world.
  • A global leader in urban water management with research-driven expertise in systems analysis, modelling and optimisation.
  • One of five UK centres of excellence delivering collaborative industrial doctoral training.
  • an international collaborator - partnering with the University of South Florida, Cornell University, Delft University of Technology, and Tsinghua University.

The CWS has developed new technologies now used in everyday engineering practice, including an Event Recognition System used by United Utilities and Real Time Pump Scheduling used in the Water Supplies Department in Hong Kong.

Exeter is already internationally-renowned for its expertise in water systems, but with your help we can train more engineers, develop new research partnerships, and find the solutions to address this global challenge.

Will you help ensure we have the best minds and the best equipment available to ensure global water security?