At the same time that water scarcity is increasing, poor water management is making the problem worse. Many cities aren’t properly maintaining their water systems, leading to wasted water supplies and energy. This creates a compounding problem for businesses, which must eventually help foot the cost for expensive repairs and replacement, or cope with declining production.
Regardless, the demands on our water systems have never been greater. Population growth is certainly an issue, but so are the ramifications of our hoped-for economic growth, including the agriculture sector. Climate change requires our water and wastewater systems to handle rapid swings in drought, but also function when heavy precipitation falls, often the result of extreme weather events.
A study commissioned by Veolia Water and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), found that 22 percent of the world’s GDP is currently produced in water-short areas. According to that analysis, if we continue on our present course of “business-as-usual” water management, 45 percent of the world’s projected global GDP will be at risk. While these problems are particularly acute for rapidly-developing countries such as China and India, the United States is not immune. Already, a significant number of U.S. states are facing issues related to water shortages. In fact, a recent report by the National Intelligence Council forecasts a growing demand for water along with accompanying shortages.
Although that sounds dire, there is still time to minimize these problems through advanced water management. Effective solutions are on the table that will enable our economies to grow in a sustainable manner. This is what I prefer to call blue growth because it refers to achieving higher productivity levels while simultaneously ensuring that water remains an enabler of growth, and not a limitation. We can achieve this through implementing higher levels of water reuse, evolving our existing water and wastewater technology, pushing for ever greater levels of water efficiency and establishing proper watershed level water resource management. Data shows that proper water management will reduce childhood malnutrition levels by more than 20 percent, and will prevent roughly $17 trillion in GDP from being affected by water stress.
Will we grow blue? Or will we proceed on our present course? Smart water managers have already recognized the problem and started to take action to protect their water future and their economies. For example, Singapore now reclaims its wastewater, transforming it into 30 percent of the country’s water supply, a solution very similar to Israel. At Veolia Water, we are currently utilizing a process that transforms wastewater into usable, biodegradable plastics, and have worked with cities such as Honolulu and Oklahoma City on water reuse programs. But these problems must be handled locally on a case-by-case basis.
