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By Jim Lauria

Tools such as automatic self-cleaning screen filters and other elements in multistage water treatment systems help the urban water industry meet challenges of increased demand.

For the first time in history, more than half of the world's population lives in urban areas, and the United Nations Population Fund projects that in 20 years, 60% of the mushrooming global population will live in cities. That puts unprecedented pressure on urban water supplies — both clean and wastewater — to operate efficiently and with as small an environmental footprint as possible. In short, overstretched budgets in 21st-century cities will have to show a high return on investment, while water treatment systems operating in strained urban ecosystems will need to consider a positive return on environment.