Invited talk · CWEA Annual Conference
Durability as practical decarbonisation
An invited presentation for water operators and asset managers on corrosion risk, lifecycle thinking and interventions that can scale across networks.
- Event
- CWEA Annual Conference
- Format
- Invited talk
- Focus
- Concrete asset resilience
The central idea
Longer asset life avoids unnecessary carbon
Concrete durability is both an operating and sustainability issue. Practical corrosion interventions can reduce risk and delay carbon-intensive replacement work.
Three ideas
The argument in practice
Address corrosion risk directly
Interventions should target the chemical conditions driving concrete deterioration.
Measure performance over time
Durability needs longitudinal evidence rather than a one-off trial result.
Keep deployment simple
Operator clarity and compatibility with existing practice determine adoption.
From stage to practice
Grounded in delivery
The talk translated materials and corrosion knowledge into choices asset teams could assess against maintenance and network priorities.
- Treat asset life as a carbon lever.
- Use field evidence.
- Design for established workflows.
- Prefer durable improvement over novelty.
Why it matters
Infrastructure that lasts longer consumes fewer replacement resources and creates less disruption for the communities it serves.