Towards an Integrated IoT Water Management Framework for Kuwait’s Strategic Needs

Kuwait’s water sector faces layered challenges rooted in resource scarcity, high demand, and aging infrastructure. Desalination remains the primary supply source, yet it imposes heavy fuel requirements and operational costs. Institutional fragmentation and limited public engagement further complicate efforts to enhance system performance. While water reuse, conservation, and monitoring remain policy targets, implementation gaps persist. This paper outlines a structured framework that connects water sector challenges with applicable IoT functions. The approach consolidates root causes into six thematic categories and maps them to five core IoT capabilities: monitoring, automation, predictive maintenance, awareness, and governance. These functions are applied across ten key domains, including production, storage, quality management, and environmental monitoring. A feasibility structure is introduced to support future assessment of deployment conditions, covering infrastructure, policy alignment, and technical readiness. The goal is not to prescribe technology adoption, but to offer an entry point for planning, tailored to Kuwait’s strategic water needs and national conditions.