A New View Of World Water Day

By Kevin Westerling,
@KevinOnWater

Since 1993, March 22 has become a day when the world’s water issues are granted a bit more visibility — a spot on the evening news, perhaps a column in your favorite newspaper or magazine — thanks to World Water Day. To many casual observers, for many years, these issues affected only the poorest of the poor who reside in underdeveloped countries. On World Water Day 2012, that is no longer the case. Today, concern over water security is nearly universal.

Terms like “virtual water” and “water-energy nexus” have made their way into the public consciousness in recent years — and rightly so, for understanding these concepts is essential to overcoming heightening water scarcity.

So Many People, So Little Water
The world population — already three times larger than it was in 1950 — is expected to expand from 7 billion to 9 billion by 2050. The effect that growth will have on virtual water, or the amount of water necessary to produce goods and services, is stunning. Consider that it takes up to:

• 15,000 liters (4,000 gallons) of water to produce 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs.) of beef
• 148,000 liters (39,100 gallons) of water to manufacture a car
• 22,700 liters (6,000 gallons) of water/year to power a 60-watt incandescent light bulb

 

That is a lot of competition for a single, finite resource — one that is also being depleted by environmental factors such as climate change.

The law of supply and demand, then, threatens to not only catch up to us in the coming decades, but to completely lap us. For some, this cruel disparity is a matter of life and death — despite great strides, at least 11% of the world population still has no access to safe drinking water. For the rest of us, it is our way of life that is at stake. To satisfy the increase in demand, municipalities must find more water and treat more water, and they need the proper infrastructure in place to do so. All of this creates a tremendous technological and economic challenge, which is articulated nicely in the white paper “Finding A Blue Path For A Sustainable Economy”.

Water Professionals — And The World — Take Heed
To best ensure our future water supply and economic well-being, water companies, municipalities, and commercial industries have come to the consensus that the answer is in efficiency — especially with regard to energy efficiency. As Xylem Inc. CEO Gretchen McClain stated at the World Water Forum just last week, “To be an expert in water, we also have to be an expert in energy, because it’s the combination that is going to help us make the right solutions.”

The water-energy nexus — the vast amount of water required to create energy, and, in turn, the incredible amount of energy needed to produce clean water — will be a major issue to overcome as cities continue to grow and industrialize at a rapid rate. Although the water and energy sectors share this mutual reliance, the weight and burden of this connection ultimately falls on our water resources. (To learn more on this subject, see “The 'Shocking' Truth Behind Water Usage, And How It Will Impact Your Future Operations”.

Reclamation and reuse of our existing supplies are also crucial aspects of efficiency and sustainability going forward. Many industries recycle their wastewater to use as feedwater in the manufacturing process, and we are also seeing more and more municipalities safely converting wastewater into drinking water. Regarding the latter, Orange County, California’s Groundwater Replenishment System has been a model of success since 2008, and Siemens recently partnered with Singapore PUB for a similar wastewater recycling initiative. As the public gradually overcomes the “yuck” factor tied to wastewater reclamation, these programs will surely play a huge role in sustainable water management.

In addition to energy efficiency and reuse, conservation, education, creative financing, and innovative water treatment technologies will all go a long way toward securing clean water for everyone, which is the focus of this day.

“World Water Day is a great reminder of water’s critical role in our lives,” Xylem’s McClain shared with me. “Nothing is more vital than clean water to our physical health…and to our economic health.” She then offered a succinct, yet powerful, summation of Xylem’s philosophy — a sentiment shared by many water purveyors:

“Value every drop, every day of the year.”

We can only hope that this important message resonates long after today’s sound bites and news reports about World Water Day have come and gone, and that all of us become informed and conscientious caretakers of our water supply.

In 2012, water is everyone’s issue.