om being consumers to producers of energy and resources (residual solids will be used for, e.g., building). However, placing an increasing reliance on remote and automated systems increases the risks and consequences of failure, as without due regard such systems can be fragile and when they fail, they fail in a catastrophic manner. The deployment of technological innovations on this scale would be dependent on acceptability and society's as well as institutional capacity to handle and live with it. Thus it would not be appropriate in all situations. Better technologies for monitoring, controlling and removing diffuse and point pollutants - at all stages of the water cycle, with ecologically degradable products (sustainable chemistry) - also need new sensors integrated with new ICT tools. Also required are new approaches for dealing with bio-solids for other uses. Overall there is a need for new technologies that produce less waste and use fewer resources. Security is a growing concern in some countries, and as support systems become more sophisticated the vulnerability of the infrastructure increases. Technical failure for whatever reason could lead to widespread impacts, pollution, health-related problems and lack of service provision for extended periods of time. While water systems are for the most part robust, they do rely on other services outside of the water service providers' control; electricity, INFRASTRUCTURE TO 2030: TELECOM, LAND TRANSPORT, WATER AND ELECTRICITY - ISBN 92-64-02398-4 © OECD 2006 5. THE IMPACTS OF CHANGE ON THE LONG-TERM FUTURE DEMAND FOR WATER SECTOR INFRASTRUCTURE telecommunications, transport, etc. are all vulnerable. Thus it could prove necessary to develop redundant or duplicated infrastructure, physical or otherwise, in order to increase resilience. An increasing dependency on automated systems, controlled at a distance or with their own AI, potentially poses some serious risks; any future installations of this kind might be required to have back-up or fail-safe mechanisms in pl