When a city runs out of water, there’s no backup plan. You cannot simply ship in enough to keep a metropolis functioning. The volume and weight make it physically impossible. Yet this scenario is becoming increasingly likely as infrastructure ages, climate patterns shift and populations grow.
Francois Gouws, Managing Director of TRILITY, has witnessed this transformation firsthand. When he stepped into his role a decade ago, his company dealt with a major flood, bushfire or drought every three-to-four years. Today, it handles three or four such events annually.
“It’s become almost business as usual, dealing with a flood or a severe bushfire,” Gouws says on CEO: Behind the Scenes. “The intensity of the floods, the intensity of the rainstorms are becoming much, much more severe.”
Australia is heading into another drought and the timing of when it fully hits is the only uncertainty. During the Millennium Drought around the year 2000, the national debate centered on which city would run out of water first. Emergency infrastructure projects were rushed through, often controversially and at great cost. But this time is different.
“The wonderful thing to see is this time around, as we prepare for this drought, the investment going on is not controversial,” Gouws explains.
“The industry has done wonderful work to engage stakeholders, to educate the stakeholders and the broader population and authorities. Because this time around, the plants are being built. They’re not controversial. Communities are behind them.”
A brewing crisis
This shift didn’t happen by accident. The water industry launched a massive public education campaign called Water Literacy, engaging everyone from school groups to corporate executives.
The goal was to explain the reality: Australia is one of the driest countries in the world, dam-building options have run out and climate-independent solutions like desalination plants are essential.
“However, it takes many years to build them,” Gouws says. “You cannot wait till you’re in a drought to build them. You need to build them beforehand.”
“The intensity of the floods, the intensity of the rainstorms are becoming much, much more severe.”
Beneath the surface, literally, another crisis is brewing. Much of Australia’s water infrastructure is underground – sewer mains, water mains and trunk lines that are decades or even a century old. Some run beneath city centers where replacement is nearly impossible.
“Replacing all this is impossible,” Gouws says, in reference to Melbourne’s thousands of kilometers of underground pipelines.
Stark choices
The industry is turning to technology for solutions. AI now analyzes years of treatment plant data to predict failures before they occur.
Robots line pipes from the inside, extending their lifespan and actually increasing capacity by reducing friction. Microphones installed in pipe networks listen for creaks and movements that signal impending failure.
Yet according to Gouws, technology alone won’t solve the fundamental problem: water is severely underpriced. At approximately US$1.30 per metric ton, getting clean water delivered to your home at pressure and guaranteed quality is remarkably cheap.
“You can’t buy anything else for that price,” he points out.
“The wonderful thing to see is this time around, as we prepare for this drought, the investment going on is not controversial.”
The implications are stark, he explains. If pricing doesn’t increase above inflation, the investment needed to maintain and upgrade infrastructure simply won’t materialize. And when infrastructure fails, the costs multiply. Emergency repairs mean digging up roads, disrupting services and paying premium rates under crisis conditions.
For Gouws, the question isn’t whether water prices will rise. It’s whether we’ll act proactively or wait until emergency measures force our hand.
Listen to the full episode of CEO: Behind the Scenes to hear Gouws discuss why purified recycled water is the future, how industry collaboration transformed Australia’s drought response and what keeps him awake at night as a leader in critical infrastructure.
Listen to the latest episode of our CEO: Behind the Scenes podcast with Francois Gouws on Amazon, Apple or Spotify.
