Code of Ethics

The communities at large no longer automatically trust experts as they used to do. Environmental professionals are no exception. There is a general development that organisations have to become environmentally certified and demonstrate responsible governance, indeed ethical governance. Environmental ethics is not just the subject of academic study, it is the stuff of newspaper editorials as demonstrated above. Most people have an instinctive view that water is a human right and that its supply should probably be free. However, it is recognised that water service charges can be levied for the cost of treatment and carriage of water and wastewater. There is a powerful element of trust, when these policies are provided by utilities. When the service fails or the resources are misused, not only do customers suffer, but also they feel that the trust has been broken.

From the above it seems that there is an increasing demand for simple messages or rules to guide our general behaviour in relation to e.g. water management. Such rules could help to make the statement "make water everybody’s business" from the World Water Vision come true. It seems that one success factor would be ethical behaviour at corporate and personal level in water management