Tokyo water braces for demographic squeeze

摘要

The Tokyo Bureau of Waterworks has earned its place as one of the world's most efficient water utilities. Across 27,000km of pipe, serving 5 million my of water to 13.9 million citizens every day, only 3% of water is lost in leaks. Maintaining this feat is challenging enough in the face of systemic pressures common to many utilities around the world, namely climate change and the need to renovate ageing infrastructure. Tokyo also faces its own unique combination of challenges, including earthquakes and a looming demographic crunch that threatens to deprive the utility of tariff revenue vital for investment.