The traditional approach to sustainability in urban water provision has been to provide a series of indicators. Social, institutional and decision-making issues have been discussed in general terms (Kenway, Howe and Maheepala 2007) but are generally included as a vague backdrop unless quantitative demographic information is obtainable. Thus they are there but are not seen as principal drivers of change. But if change is to occur, it is these dynamic social things that can drive it: ethics, values, attitudes and behaviour at individual, organisational, community and political levels.

If we are to advance towards sustainable water futures it is important to free up those things which are currently holding it back. The social, institutional and cultural variables thus become of paramount importance. These must be underpinned by processes that are seen to be procedurally and interactively just. Once these processes are in place, economic and environmental investigations come into play, as do the more conventional social-sustainability indicators. It is analysis of alternative scenarios from these perspectives that provides important criteria against which alternative futures can be described.

Finally, it is worth observing that this chapter does not provide the right answer to which way the urban water industry should go forward. Centralised systems have provided reliable and healthy water supply in the past, albeit by providing three largely separate systems. But such infrastructure has been facing large challenges in Australia in recent years because of drought and increasing problems with water quality. On the other hand, micro-systems may provide for sustainability and whole-of-cycle management at a micro-level but face management and regulation problems. Meso-scale developments, while being easier to manage than micro-systems, could face issues of social acceptance, especially if they are in the form of neighbourhood wastewater treatment plants.

In reality, if there is to be a change from large centralised systems and there is a consistent introduction of meso- and micro-systems, for whatever reason, there will be major challenges for the urban water industry, both socially and institutionally. Most particularly, widening the scope from rational engineering and economic decision-making to incorporating community values and emotions into procedurally just and iterative decision-making processes will be the greatest challenge of all. Without integration of these components, sustainable urban water systems are unlikely to be achieved.