Emotional Labour Under Smart Water Systems: Job Satisfaction and Burnout Implications

This chapter explores increased emotional labour required by frontline workers of water utilities who work in technologically advanced settings. Since smart water systems (SWS) combine Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), internet of things (IoT) and real-time analytics in water governance, the psychological well-being of affected employees who administer the systems is being highly compromised. Case studies to help us examine the effectiveness of cognitive overload, emotional regulation, and technological surveillance, on job satisfaction and burnout as conducted in Spain, India, Singapore and the USA. Based on emotional labour theory and the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, the chapter contains practical recommendations that can create emotional resilience and sustainable workforce well-being in smart water utilities.