大多数水务公司还没有为跟上不断变化的需求（如人口增加、基础设施老化、成本增加等）所需的变化步伐做好准备。为其土木工程系统提供良好服务的技能虽然仍然至关重要，但已不足以实现所需的所有新功能。水务公司不得不超越传统的对土木工程基础设施的关注，寻找新问题的新解决方案。新技术、新技能、新人员和新的操作方式已经出现。许多新的工作面都没有直接参与到水的处理中。在这个不断扩大的组织中，信息和沟通变得越来越重要。 虽然对沟通更多信息的需求不断增长，但日益增加的组织复杂性使得有效沟通更难实现。公用事业公司正转向信息技术寻求解决方案。这需要的改变虽然是必要的，但来之不易，也并不总是成功的。

Most water utilities have not been prepared for the pace of change needed to keep up with changing requirements such as larger population, aging infrastructure, costs increases, etc. The skills that have served their civil engineering systems well, while still essential, are not enough anymore to carry out all the new functions that are required. Water utilities have been forced to look beyond their traditional focus on the civil engineering infrastructure to find new solutions to new problems. New technologies, new skills, new people and new ways of operating have come into the picture. Many of the new faces in the utility are not directly involved in moving and treating water. Information and communication across this expanding organization have become increasingly important. While the need to communicate more information has grown, increasing organizational complexity has made effective communication harder to achieve. Utilities are turning to information technology for solutions. The changes that this requires, while necessary, have not come easy, and have not always been successful.