Robots in drinking water: A pipe dream?

This study addresses the regulatory impacts on an innovative project seeking to introduce
autonomous robots into the potable water network, Pipebots. It does so through the lens of
adaptive governance, principally the under-explored area of adaptive governance and formal
law. Through this study, suggestions are made to improve the regulatory regime, including a
separate authorisation process for novel or complex products, built-in feedback loops to
encourage learning and reflection and the need for early engagement by innovators in the
regulatory process. Further, the analysis exposes a wider, serious tension: How do we encourage
the innovation and flexibility we need to ensure the resilience and sustainability of our systems
and at the same time safeguard strict human and environmental protections? The Pipebots
project is used to explore the law’s role within adaptive governance, and suggestions to improve
water governance are proposed.