Smart Water Reliability: How Digitalisation Is Redistributing Reliability Work in Water Systems.

Abstract

The reliability of water systems is undergoing a fundamental transformation as digitalisation, climate pressures, and regulatory scrutiny reshape how performance is sustained in practice. Traditional milestone-based assurance—where reliability was validated at commissioning and assumed stable thereafter—no longer reflects the operational realities of smart, data-rich infrastructure. This paper introduces Smart Water Reliability (SWR) as a framing concept for understanding how reliability is now produced through the continuous interaction of digital visibility, professional judgement, and organisational adaptation. Drawing on long-term industry observation across commissioning and operational contexts, the paper identifies five competence patterns that illustrate this shift: the erosion of sensory knowledge, signal saturation and attention triage, the commissioning blind spot, asymmetric visibility, and compliance by proxy. These patterns reveal how reliability work is being redistributed across sociotechnical boundaries, often in ways that remain invisible within existing engineering frameworks. By articulating these emerging forms of competence, SWR provides a conceptual anchor for industry and research communities seeking to understand and respond to the changing demands of reliability practice in digitally mediated water systems. The paper concludes by outlining implications for training, governance, and professional formation, positioning reliability as a dynamic, negotiated process rather than a static technical attribute.