Every two years, the International Water Association (IWA) hosts the Water Efficiency Conference. In September 2025, the event was held in Melbourne, in partnership with the Australian Water Association. These gatherings offer a valuable opportunity for water professionals from around the world to come together, share insights, and learn from one another – so we’re not all reinventing the wheel.
Water efficiency and loss are becoming increasingly critical global issues, driving the adoption of emerging technologies and international best practices in demand management. Evolving behaviours, innovative interfaces, and targeted programs are improving monitoring, enhancing data analysis and fostering stronger community engagement. By embracing innovation and learning from global experience, we continue to move toward more sustainable and efficient water management.
Interestingly, while the conference showcased water efficiency initiatives from around the world, it also brought together many past industry leaders whose careers have shaped the present. This presented a unique opportunity to ask them what stood out at this year’s event – adding not just a global breadth of new ideas, but also a valuable depth of perspective grounded in decades of experience.
The reflections that follow come from Darryl Day, Tom Mollenkopf, Francis Pamminger, Chris Philpot, Bruce Rhodes, and Stuart White – professionals who helped make the case for dual-flush toilets in the 1970s, confronted the emerging threat of climate change in the 1980s, championed water-wise garden design in the 1990s, and helped mainstream water recycling, third-pipe systems, and product efficiency standards in the early 2000s.
Collectively, they helped deliver more than a 20% improvement in residential water efficiency.
The 10th Water Efficiency Conference highlighted not only the rapid pace of innovation across the global water sector, but also how much more resilient our systems become when water efficiency sits at the centre of regulation, liveability solutions, and water supply strategies.
Importantly, the conference explored the human dimension of efficiency – the role of behavioural change, empowered communities, and nature-positive solutions in addressing the growing pressures of climate variability, urbanisation, and population growth. These themes reinforced that efficiency is not simply about technology or policy; it is about people, partnerships, and purpose.
Powerful stories shared from the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore and Australia underlined the critical role of international collaboration. Australia’s experience during the Millennium Drought, for example, led to transformative changes in the relationship between water suppliers and customers – a reminder that crisis can drive lasting reform.
The conference also provided a valuable platform to explore global regulatory strategies and community responses to environmental and water security challenges. One clear takeaway was the importance of investing in capacity development and leadership for the next generation.
The IWA Water Efficiency Conference created that opportunity, but there remains much to do to capture the lessons of the past and to mentor the thought leaders of today – ensuring that knowledge, innovation, and resilience continue to flow to those who will shape our sector’s future.
Since 2001, this conference has travelled the world – Spain, Chile, Korea, Jordan, France, the Philippines – so it was an honour to now hold it Melbourne. Australia, and Victoria in particular, have long faced climate variability. Now, with the growing impacts of climate change, we have both lessons to share and a strong need to learn from others.
As a former President of the International Water Association, I was thrilled to see so many global colleagues attend. IWA connects water professionals across 140 countries and all parts of the sector – utilities, researchers, consultants, regulators, and innovators.
Water efficiency is vital to our future in the water industry. Because supply-side solutions alone – dams, desalination, recycling – aren’t enough. We need to also manage demand. Efficiency delivers the same outcome, but with less water, less cost, less energy use, and fewer emissions.
And finally, the science and practice of water efficiency showcase everything good about the water sector: people doing their best to serve communities with an essential resource, sustainably and responsibly
What’s striking is how global leadership in water efficiency shifts with drought. International visitors often say, “We learnt this from you in Australia,” even as we now learn from innovations in the UK and USA.
A key trend is growing reliance on demand reduction. Ofwat, the UK regulator, expects 60% of future water supply to come from demand management. In California, some utilities have committed to 40% reduction targets by 2040.
The UK Environment Agency also highlighted the need to align land use planning with water supply – especially as high-demand industries like hydrogen production and data centres emerge. Grouping them makes it easier to supply specific regions with recycled water. This contrasts with Japan, where buildings over 10,000 m² must recycle water.
Language also matters. From “water conservation” during the Millennium Drought to today’s “water efficiency,” our terminology has evolved. Yet in the US, even “efficiency” sparked resistance, with some customers resorting to social media to question or refuse the messaging. The solution? Reframe it as consumer advice – offering choice and benefits. After all, who wouldn’t want to save money, water, and energy?
Bringing together around 300 passionate water efficiency professionals from Australia and all over the world in one place creates a certain energy and excitement that can’t be described. Over three days, with three parallel sessions – workshops and presentations – the event brought a level of enthusiasm and shared discussions that I’ve never felt before.
The IWA Water Efficiency Conference takes place every two years in a different chosen city around the world. This time, Melbourne and more broadly Australia benefitted from the shared learnings, conversations and benefits of water efficient products, certification, behaviour change approaches, smart metering, leak detection, community engagement and alternative water sources among many more topics.
The challenge is now, how do we continue to maintain and build the momentum created by the 2025 Water Efficiency Conference. Through collaboration groups like the WSAA Water Efficiency Network, the AWA Water Efficiency Specialist Network and the IWA Australia branch we provide opportunities and experiences for us to share project outcomes, provide speaker platforms and advocate for water efficiency to be considered as one of the options on the table.
Melbourne is well known for attracting visitors for sporting and cultural events, but now can add water use efficiency to the list of reasons to visit.
Since the Millennium Drought, the focus on water efficiency in many areas of Australia has eased, despite its previous leadership in reducing per capita use. However, many regions are now prioritising and reviewing water efficiency practices due to population growth, changing water use, severe drought, and climate change, emphasising the important role in providing water security.
With water efficiency now seen as economically the least cost of all water supply management options, and also contributing to considerable energy savings, interest is high in the benefits of reducing water demand and emissions associated with water production.
The challenge to delegates was set by Mary Ann Dickinson in a quote from Ashleigh Brilliant: “Nothing we do can change the past, but everything we do changes the future.”