Research methods and conceptual principles of optimizing drinking water supply and wastewater systems

The article analyzes the global experience in the following areas: population access to safe drinking water and sanitation, the implementation of measures to optimize drinking water supply and wastewater systems, and the integration of these measures into respective legislative documents, considering country-specific characteristics in these sectors. An overview of the implementation and realization of Water Safety Plans (WSP) in various countries is provided. The issues of drinking water supply and wastewater management in countries affected by armed conflicts and their solutions are highlighted. The article also describes known methodological approaches in the field of drinking water supply and wastewater management in Ukraine. Within the framework of the dissertation research, new systematic scientific and methodological approaches are proposed in the form of draft Regulations for developing schemes to optimize centralized water supply and wastewater systems. These drafts include: the creation of comprehensive solutions to ensure the sustainability, energy efficiency, and safety of systems; risk analysis, the development of alternative scenarios, and the determination of financial models and implementation plans; performance indicators for implementing optimization schemes; the establishment of conditions for attracting investments and funding from international donors. A comparative analysis was conducted between the existing Methodological Recommendations for developing optimization schemes for centralized water supply and wastewater systems and the proposed draft Regulations. Using a systematic analysis, the specifics of structural reform in scientific and methodological approaches to optimizing drinking water supply and wastewater systems were studied and analyzed based on global experience.