PepsiCo launched a water modeling tool and released its latest company water report — which says it saved 14 billion liters of water in its direct operations in 2013 — at the Stockholm International Water Institute’s annual World Water Week.
Hydro-BID is a data management and modeling tool developed in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) that estimates the availability of freshwater in water-scarce regions throughout Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
Pepsi says the Hydro-BID is an open-source modeling tool that has the potential to forecast water availability and supply in the LAC region under virtually any climate, population and land-use scenario. To date, the tool has projected water supplies in Brazil, Peru, Haiti and Argentina; the company expects it to impact more than 3 million people across the LAC region by 2017.
In addition to aiding countries with water budgeting and water-resource planning, Hydro-BID can help policymakers and communities prepare for floods and droughts.
In March 2013 Pepsi announced it has achieved its goal — almost three years early — of partnering to provide access to safe water to 3 million people in developing countries and has doubled its original commitment. The company has now pledged to provide access to safe water to an additional 3 million people by the end of 2015.
