Resiliency and Sustainability of Urban Water Systems

Urban water management is increasingly facing challenges due to rapid urbanization, population growth, overuse of resources, and increased anthropogenic contamination. The occurrence of extreme climate change over the past few decades has resulted in prolonged droughts, flooding events, and heat waves in a vast range of areas globally, in turn imposing significant stress on freshwater resources and urban water infrastructure. The development of systems for rigorous and real-time monitoring, as well as technologies for the improvement of resiliency and sustainability of both water infrastructure and freshwater supplies are, therefore, of paramount importance within the field of water sciences and water industry. Recent advances in wastewater treatment technologies have motivated water-scarce communities to change their strategy for the delivery of potable water from once-through to reuse and recycle; however, due to regulatory, technological, economic, and social barriers, implementation of potable reuse systems remains substantially limited.

This Research Topic aims to present a collection of papers that shed light on emerging issues in urban water systems, while providing solutions to improve the resiliency and sustainability of both freshwater supplies and water infrastructure. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Water quality modeling and monitoring of freshwater reservoirs;
- Design of resilient and sustainable urban water systems;
- Climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies;
- Detection and removal of water contaminants through innovative approaches;
- Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) and their risks to human and ecosystem;
- Analysis of cost and energy consumption in smart infrastructure and water reuse systems;
- Life cycle assessment of water infrastructure; and,
- The role of advanced technologies (e.g., IoT, digitalization, smart metering, and real-time monitoring) in supporting the development of resilient, adaptable urban water systems.

This Research Topic invites original research articles, reviews, as well as short communications that contribute new insights and knowledge to the field. Manuscripts that report routine data or address topics that are already well understood will not be considered. We are particularly interested in submissions emphasizing sustainability and resilience of urban water systems, focusing on technologies to fulfil water demand in response to population growth and climate-induced decline of freshwater resources.