Perspectives of different parties involved in the selection of capital equipment for sewerage and wastewater-associated infrastructure investment projects

This paper presents a study of UK water industry capital equipment selection, focusing in particular on behaviour in relation to sewerage/combined sewer overflow (CSO) and wastewater‐associated investment activities. Valuable new insights into the perspectives of different parties, including water service providers (WSPs), design consultants and construction companies, are provided. Through analysis of over 200 questionnaires, equipment selection is confirmed to be multi‐organisational, with different parties dominating different roles. Among the selection criteria, service and quality are found to be valued as parameters worth paying for. Relationships and sustainability considerations are also found to be important, although views on whether sustainability benefits will be paid for are divided. While interparty alignment of views is generally good, there are occasional discrepancies at the individual water region level. It is suggested that optimisation might derive from recognising the significance of intangible components of the supplier offering, and managing relationships to allow these to be capitalised upon.