IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/waterr/v39y2025i6d10.1007_s11269-025-04154-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Water Sector 5.0: Harnessing Digital Transformation Opportunities and Mitigating Risks

Author

Listed:
  • Mahi Chaudhary

    (Uttaranchal University)

  • Shivam Pandey

    (Uttaranchal University)

Abstract

The water sector is going under tremendous changes in current scenarios. The sector is now a days being transformed through digitalization which has not only increased its efficiency but has also contributed to enhanced sustainability and resilience. One important point of utilizing digitalization is that well informed decision can be made easily resulting in improved management of resources and detection of leaks saving the resource. Intelligent systems allow for further improvement in distribution and utilization of water saving time and other resources. Forecasting maintenance of pipelines enabled by Internet of Things devices and Artificial Intelligence enables early prevention of equipment malfunctions, minimizes downtime and prolongs the infrastructure lifespan. Digital platform also enhances customer engagement by offering immediate updates for water consumption and service-related problems. Nevertheless, many challenges are also presented by digitalization of water industry as they face considerable threats from cybersecurity vulnerabilities and are always at risk of being attacked by cybercriminal and disruptions in supply. Moreover, the incorporation of newer technologies is also not very cost effective. The present review examines the opportunities and threats being faced by the digitalization of water sector. This also puts focus on utilization of emerging Industry 5.0 in the sector and discusses use of these technologies for better management.

Suggested Citation

  • Mahi Chaudhary & Shivam Pandey, 2025. "Water Sector 5.0: Harnessing Digital Transformation Opportunities and Mitigating Risks," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 39(6), pages 2463-2477, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:39:y:2025:i:6:d:10.1007_s11269-025-04154-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11269-025-04154-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11269-025-04154-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11269-025-04154-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Piotr F. Borowski, 2021. "Digitization, Digital Twins, Blockchain, and Industry 4.0 as Elements of Management Process in Enterprises in the Energy Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Aparna M. Deulkar & Pradnya R. Dixit & Shreenivas N. Londhe & Rakesh K. Jain, 2025. "Comparative Assessment of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), Long Short Term Memory Network (LSTM) and Hydrologic Engineering Centre-Hydrologic Modelling System (HEC-HMS) for Runoff Modelling," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 39(5), pages 2049-2068, March.
    3. Shivam Pandey & Bhekisipho Twala & Rajesh Singh & Anita Gehlot & Aman Singh & Elisabeth Caro Montero & Neeraj Priyadarshi, 2022. "Wastewater Treatment with Technical Intervention Inclination towards Smart Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-16, September.
    4. Günter Müller-Czygan & Viktoriya Tarasyuk & Christian Wagner & Manuela Wimmer, 2021. "How Does Digitization Succeed in the Municipal Water Sector? The WaterExe4.0 Meta-Study Identifies Barriers as well as Success Factors, and Reveals Expectations for the Future," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-21, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Agnieszka Kuś & Dorota Grego-Planer, 2021. "A Model of Innovation Activity in Small Enterprises in the Context of Selected Financial Factors: The Example of the Renewable Energy Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-17, May.
    2. Jun Liu & Yu Qian & Huihong Chang & Jeffrey Yi-Lin Forrest, 2022. "The Impact of Technology Innovation on Enterprise Capacity Utilization—Evidence from China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-17, September.
    3. Ning, Jiajun & Xiong, Lixin, 2024. "Analysis of the dynamic evolution process of the digital transformation of renewable energy enterprises based on the cooperative and evolutionary game model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    4. Pei Zhang & Peiran Chen & Fan Xiao & Yong Sun & Shuyan Ma & Ziwei Zhao, 2022. "The Impact of Information Infrastructure on Air Pollution: Empirical Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-17, November.
    5. Anna Borkovcová & Miloslava Černá & Marcela Sokolová, 2022. "Blockchain in the Energy Sector—Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-12, November.
    6. Jakov Batelić & Karlo Griparić & Dario Matika, 2021. "Impact of Remediation-Based Maintenance on the Reliability of a Coal-Fired Power Plant Using Generalized Stochastic Petri Nets," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-14, September.
    7. Nguyen Thanh Viet & Alla G. Kravets, 2022. "The New Method for Analyzing Technology Trends of Smart Energy Asset Performance Management," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-26, September.
    8. Artur Kwasek & Damian Kocot & Izabela Gontarek & Jacek Oleksiejuk & Joanna Rogozinska-Mitrut & Malgorzata Golinska-Pieszynska, 2024. "Human Resource Management Practices in an Agile Organization in the Aspect of Own Research," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 383-399.
    9. Andres Alonso-Robisco & Jose Carbo & Emily Kormanyos & Elena Triebskorn, 2025. "Houston, we have a problem: can satellite information bridge the climate-related data gap?," IFC Bulletins chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Addressing climate change data needs: the central banks' contribution, volume 63, Bank for International Settlements.
    10. Piotr F. Borowski, 2022. "Management of Energy Enterprises in Zero-Emission Conditions: Bamboo as an Innovative Biomass for the Production of Green Energy by Power Plants," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-16, March.
    11. Barbara Siuta-Tokarska & Sylwia Kruk & Paweł Krzemiński & Agnieszka Thier & Katarzyna Żmija, 2022. "Digitalisation of Enterprises in the Energy Sector: Drivers—Business Models—Prospective Directions of Changes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-21, November.
    12. Ma, Chao-Qun & Lei, Yu-Tian & Ren, Yi-Shuai & Chen, Xun-Qi & Wang, Yi-Ran & Narayan, Seema, 2024. "Systematic analysis of the blockchain in the energy sector: Trends, issues, and future directions," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(2).
    13. Huang, Chenchen & Lin, Boqiang, 2023. "Promoting decarbonization in the power sector: How important is digital transformation?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    14. Lina Zhang & Sai Liu & Yung‐ho Chiu & Qinghua Pang & Qiyong Chen & Changfeng Shi, 2024. "Assessing China's energy‐related efficiency towards SDG7 and influencing factors," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(6), pages 6449-6470, December.
    15. Wang, Baoyi & Khan, Inayat & Ge, Chenlu & Naz, Huma, 2024. "Digital transformation of enterprises promotes green technology innovation – The regulated mediation model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    16. Sabryna V. Fernandes & Diogo V. João & Beatriz B. Cardoso & Marcos A. I. Martins & Edgar G. Carvalho, 2022. "Digital Twin Concept Developing on an Electrical Distribution System—An Application Case," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-22, April.
    17. Marco Francesco Funari & Ameer Emad Hajjat & Maria Giovanna Masciotta & Daniel V. Oliveira & Paulo B. Lourenço, 2021. "A Parametric Scan-to-FEM Framework for the Digital Twin Generation of Historic Masonry Structures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-22, October.
    18. Lorena Espina-Romero & Jesús Guerrero-Alcedo, 2022. "Fields Touched by Digitalization: Analysis of Scientific Activity in Scopus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-16, November.
    19. Peter Nijkamp & Karima Kourtit & Henk Scholten & Esmeralda Willemsen, 2023. "Citizen Participation and Knowledge Support in Urban Public Energy Transition—A Quadruple Helix Perspective," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-17, February.
    20. Gao, Feng & He, Ziwen, 2024. "Digital economy, land resource misallocation and urban carbon emissions in Chinese resource-based cities," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:39:y:2025:i:6:d:10.1007_s11269-025-04154-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.