By the year 2050, global demand for fresh water will grow by 55%. Against a backdrop of increasingly frequent droughts and climate anomalies, Europe is facing a paradoxical problem: colossal volumes of already extracted and treated water are simply seeping into the ground.
According to estimates by the industry association Water Europe, large-scale AI modernization of water infrastructure could not only solve the problem of leaks but also generate savings of up to 3 billion euros annually, as well as create more than 13 thousand new jobs in the high-tech sector.
The scale of losses: where does the water go?
In Europe, about 23% of so-called "non-revenue water" (NRW) is lost due to leaks. This means that nearly a quarter of the resource, for which energy and chemicals were spent on treatment and pumping, never reaches the end consumer.
The disparity in efficiency between countries is enormous: from an exemplary 6% in the Netherlands to a catastrophic 45% in Bulgaria. In the year 2024 alone, leaks were recorded at 67% monitored EU facilities: 772 million liters of water (the equivalent of 300 Olympic swimming pools) were lost into the ground. Data from the Finnish analytics company Smartvatten for the year 2025 show that out of 19,3 billion liters of water under monitoring, 1,47 billion liters simply disappeared due to pipe bursts.
The legacy of post-war Europe
The roots of the problem are hidden underground. Most of the 4,4 million kilometers of drinking water supply networks and 2,6 million kilometers of sewage systems in the EU were laid in the post-war period. Decades of temperature fluctuations, soil movement, and chemical exposure have weakened the infrastructure.
As Hildegard Bentele, a Member of the European Parliament and chair of the interparliamentary group on water, notes, Europe has historically perceived water as a cheap and infinite resource rather than a strategic priority. Because pipes are hidden under asphalt, politicians and the public only think about them when an accident occurs. At the same time, the artificial suppression of water tariffs (often for political reasons) leads to chronic underfunding of network maintenance and the postponement of repairs.
Artificial intelligence: from reaction to prevention
This is precisely where digitalization comes to the rescue. According to Durk Krol, Executive Director of Water Europe, AI shifts the work of utility services from periodic inspections and reactive responses to accidents to continuous monitoring and proactive management. AI "makes invisible losses visible."
How exactly technologies are saving water:
- Acoustic monitoring: Real-time systems capture the characteristic sounds of underground leaks using a network of sensors.
- Smart pressure management: AI algorithms automatically regulate pressure in pipes based on the time of day and consumption, reducing the risk of bursts.
- District Metered Areas (DMA): Global networks are divided into micro-districts, which allows for the instant localization of a leak.
- Drought forecasting: AI analyzes satellite imagery, weather station data, and groundwater levels, issuing warnings about water shortages weeks and months before they occur.
According to Water Europe estimates, the implementation of such systems will save up to 3 billion euros per year by reducing emergency repairs and resource losses, and will also create demand for IT specialists, engineers, and data analysts (more than 13 thousand jobs).
Economy and ecology at stake
Water loss is not only a risk of shortage but also a heavy blow to the environment. According to Eurostat data, the loss of just 1% of water increases the sector's energy consumption by 3% and leads to an additional 119 million tons of CO2 emissions. When water leaks into the ground, the resources spent on its extraction and filtration are wasted along with it.
Furthermore, water-intensive sectors of the economy are at risk: agriculture, energy, and semiconductor manufacturing. Today, their volume is estimated at 192 billion euros, and by the year 2030, it could reach 1 trillion euros with a 2,6-fold increase in water demand. Without reliable water supply, these sectors will face production shutdowns and an outflow of investors.
The future: A single digital water market
The main challenge remains market fragmentation: in Germany and France alone, there are more than 10 000 small water suppliers that lack the resources for digitalization on their own. In addition, water utilities are considered critical infrastructure and require reliable protection against cyberattacks.
To address these problems, Water Europe advocates for the creation of a pan-European digital water data market. A federated system will allow for the integration of reliable data at the river basin level so that authorities and utility services work with a single source of truth.
Investments in infrastructure are already growing (in the year 2026 they reached 36,6 billion euros), but it is smart algorithms and AI that will become the very key that allows Europe to adapt to climate change, assess the real cost of water, and save its main resource for future generations.
