National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of ISO 24566‑1:2023.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee CB/503, Drinking water and wastewater service levels.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 30 November 2023.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a) patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC224, Drinking water, wastewater and stormwater systems and service.

A list of all parts in the ISO 24566 series can be found on the ISO website.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

The fact that climate change is occurring is recognized globally. Programmes have been introduced internationally through a number of agreements, commencing in 1992 when the “Earth Summit” produced the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)^[¹^] as a first step in addressing the climate change problem. Additional agreements have since been reached regarding the responses needed to combat climate change, notably from the 2008 Kyoto Accord^[²^] to the 2015 Paris Accord of Climate Change.^[³^] Climate change is the defining issue of the age.

Scientific investigation and confirmation of climate change has been led by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), established by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme to provide an objective source of scientific information. In 2013 the IPCC provided more clarity about the role of human activities in climate change when it released its Fifth Assessment Report.^[³^] It is categorical in its conclusion that climate change is real and human activities are the main cause.

From shifting weather patterns that threaten food production to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and unprecedented in scale. Adapting to these impacts will be more difficult and more costly in future. Climate change is generally described as changes in long-run weather patterns, triggered generally by global warming. These changes result in severe and often unpredictable weather events (e.g. powerful storms, droughts, ice storms, floods) which may be short or long term in their occurrence and local or regional in nature. Their severity deepens: droughts are longer, rainfalls and snowfalls become heavier. These events impact the infrastructures and the operations of water utilities, whether drinking water, wastewater or stormwater systems.

All water system services rely on both natural resources and infrastructure, and regardless of their specific purpose (supply of drinking water, collection and management of wastewater or stormwater) they can be similarly affected by the manifestations of climate change, e.g. sea-level rise, flooding, high winds, excessive snow or rainfalls, droughts.

For example, the need for rapid reaction to flooding due to extreme precipitation (flash floods) has been exacerbated by a large increase in the number of extreme precipitation events, coupled with compaction or degradation of soils, deforestation, loss of ground cover or poor agricultural practices in the watershed. These events have resulted in pluvial flooding in many major cities during the last 10 years. Between now and 2100, flood risk (in terms of expected annual damage) is likely to increase strongly when no adaptive or mitigative measures are taken. The projected increase can be two times for storm surge and almost four to eight times for pluvial flooding.^[⁴^] These events can and have affected all types of water utilities.

Other IPCC research reports^[³^] give warning that many global risks of climate change are concentrated in urban areas. The reports summarized indicate that risks are amplified for those lacking essential infrastructure and services or living in poor-quality housing and exposed areas. The key risks, all of which are identified with high confidence, include severe ill-health and disrupted livelihoods for urban and regional populations due to flooding from a range of sources, including pluvial, fluvial, storm surges and coastal flooding or other consequences of climate change, such as forest or bushfires.

Therefore, climate change adaptation is essential in order to make the service areas more robust for future climate developments and to reduce the risk impacts in this respect. Climate adaptive strategies will influence the development of the urban or regional layout. For flooding issues, these can include either storing higher water volumes or managing water flows. Flow-management techniques include returning stormwater channels to more natural, living streams which slow the flow, increase habitat, provide visual amenity and provide cool spaces. Other strategies the water utility can consider include implementingsource control measures or encouraging infiltration or evapotranspiration measures. All of these should be undertaken without endangering other critical functions of the city, notably ease of access for people with disabilities and flow of traffic. In selecting the strategies and adaptations to be implemented, the water service should consider the liveability and public health needs of the community or region. Water is able to be used in smarter and better ways to achieve water utility objectives at the same time as helping the community to adapt to climate change. Also relevant to the management of water utilities is the treatment of water drawn from environmental sources for drinking water purposes, for example runoff into surface water sources or intrusion of salt water into coastal aquifers. Water utilities also need to consider the treatment of stormwater and wastewater prior to discharge into receiving bodies of water to preserve or improve aquatic ecological systems or their potential reuse.

Many adaptive strategies are long-term and potentially very costly initiatives, taking several decades to implement even under the most optimistic circumstances. This requires significant investment and water utilities to work carefully with their stakeholders, customers and communities to determine who pays. It means that water utilities also face critical planning and implementation options. Issues are related to timing as well as speed of delivery and process, leading into decision-making.

There is a need for guidance on the evaluation principles that should be used to assess possible adaptive responses to climate changes that are affecting the effectiveness of the provision of water services. Principle-based guidance can be used to help find the optimum response to the application of scarce investment capital and operating expenditures while meeting social, economic and environmental objectives, as well as other objectives such as shareholder, regulator and customer objectives.

NOTE 1 This was identified by ISO/TC 224 in the development of ISO 24536.

NOTE 2 The subject of climate change has also been considered by CEN in respect to both services and products. See CEN‑CENELEC Guide 32.^[³⁶^]

Since these responses involve public investment funds and operating costs, the applied funds should be well-managed and accountable to the public. Investments in private systems should equally be well-managed and accountable to the investors. In either situation, the careful and consistent assessment of the impacts and effects of climate change should be identified, discussed and set out in a way that enables them to be standardized for common application in all aspects of response planning and implementation

The World Bank has estimated that, globally, almost USD 3 trillion is needed just to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 – Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.^[⁵^] This does not account for adapting existing infrastructure to climate change.

Evaluation principles for assessing possible adaptation responses can and should be identified, discussed and set out. Standardization of these principles will enable them to become commonly available for application in all circumstances.

Standardization of these principles will also facilitate the achievement of sound investments in a transparent manner by decision-makers and provide confidence to stakeholders, whether of public or private water systems.

1 Scope

This document identifies and sets out principles for integrating climate change impacts into the planning and design activities of water utilities for the provision of water services. It also includes methodologies to assess the principles in the context of climate change and to provide examples of adaptations made.

NOTE Discussion of impacts and strategies for responses for stormwater, drinking water and wastewater utilities are intended to be set out in ISO 24566‑2:‑1, ISO 24566‑3:‑2 and ISO 24566‑4:‑3, respectively, with examples of adaptations that have been made.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Objectives

5 Principles for response approaches

6 The nature and impacts of climate change

6.1 Nature

6.2 Chronic impacts of climate change

6.3 Impacts on water services

6.4 Examples of consequences for water utilities

6.5 Response implications

7 Adaptation approaches

7.1 General

7.2 Adaptive responses

7.3 Examples

7.4 Mitigative responses

8 Adaptive response approaches

8.1 General

8.2 Risk-based approach

8.3 Integrating with urban and regional planning activities

8.4 Adaptive response contributions to sustainability

8.5 Response contributions to resilience

8.6 Key elements of adaptive responses

8.7 Long-term economic viability assessment

8.8 Assessment and monitoring of adaptive responses

9 Recommended approach for responses

Bibliography

BS ISO 24566-1:2023

Drinking water, wastewater and storm water systems and services. Adaptation of water services to climate change impacts - Assessment principles

Current

Published:

30 Nov 2023