Despite kickstarting with Brexit uncertainty, 2019 promises to be another exciting year for the global water market. From microplastics and smart networks, through to a golden era for wastewater in emerging countries, predictions for this year are both ambitious and exciting. We speak to global water experts, from associations, to water utilities and engineering companies, to find out what they believe will be the biggest challenges and opportunities over the next 12 months. Kala Vairavamoorthy, executive director at International Water Association (IWA), tells us that 2019 is the year zero to implement the new IWA strategy, drawing exceptional professionals from 130 countries, all working to address the world’s most urgent water challenges when and where they arise, from ridge to reef and from catchment to tap. With increasing global change pressures cities of the future will experience difficulties in efficiently managing scarcer and less reliable water resources. In order to meet these challenges, there is a need for a fundamental change in the way we manage urban water based on a foundation of research, technology and innovation. The new normal for all sectors, including the water sector is a low-carbon economy and water needs to play an active role in climate mitigation. The circular economy is key to decoupling economic group from water consumption, moving us away from the conventional ‘take-make-consume and dispose’ model of growth. Against such mounting global pressures, the dawn of the digital water economy will prove transformational in positioning the water sector and its customers for resilience and efficient economic development, finding sustainable pathways for people and systems to persist, adapt, and transform in the face of change.