A COMPANY’S BLUEPRINT TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE WATER USE AND SAVINGS

When a drought forced the Tennessee Valley Authority to reduce its hydropower generation, it lost in the region of $300 million. And when a Coca-Cola plant in India started to compete with local farmers for water resources, it eventually shut down. By Chetan Mistry, strategy and marketing manager, Xylem Africa

The most important detail from both these examples is that they occurred over 15 years ago, and there have since been more examples of how competition for water is a growing risk for businesses.

According to McKinsey, by 2030, the world's water supplies will satisfy only around 60% of global demand, and even less in developing economies such as China, India, and South Africa, where water stress is already an issue. To complicate matters, interventions to secure and deliver good water can be a long and intensive journey, and in the short term, governments will likely raise prices to compensate for constrained supplies.

It is no surprise that the World Economic Forum has named water scarcity the number one global risk. Yet the picture is not entirely gloomy. The silver lining of water stress is that we've been generally passive at it and leaving a lot of opportunities on the table. The growing problems with water is not a reckoning but instead a call to start doing more. And since water has not received the same level of diligence and planning as other resources, companies can get results much faster with minimal interventions.

Water stewardship

Water management is becoming a cornerstone consideration for healthy ESG strategies, and more investors and market analysts look for a positive water attitude in companies. Numerous companies are living up to these ideals, making interventions that also align with their growth strategies.

3M, the global manufacturing conglomerate, set a goal to reduce its water use by a quarter and return clean water to the environment. It relies on water purification systems to reduce its pollution footprint and recycles water to improve resilience. The vehicle giant Ford has been on a mission to reduce its water consumption. An average car requires almost 150 000 litres of water to manufacture – by reducing that demand by 70%, Ford has saved more than 41 billion litres of water through its water-management plans.

High-tech firms are also very water conscious: Meta, the owner of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, uses thousands of litres to cool its data centres. The company adopted a policy to return more water than it uses by 2030 and has already shrunk the water usage at some of its data centres by more than 70%. Infrastructure giants are as interested in water sustainability: Guadalajara’s Urban Electric Train System (SITEUR) in Mexico combines water management with dewatering strategies to ensure its underground railway tunnels do not flood. And water technology leader Xylem has reduced its water use by 26% since 2019.

Solutions

Water scarcity is arguably the most significant emerging risk to businesses and communities. Fortunately, numerous water conservation and management tactics can reverse the tide. Xylem has worked with many public and private organisations across the world to develop water systems that recycle, revive and make their operations more resilient. Here are steps to take towards more sustainable water use:

• Utilise water measurement data to pinpoint areas of high-water usage and wastage. Smart meters, sensors, and data platforms can quickly develop a working picture of water needs and wastage.

• Install low-flow toilets and taps to significantly reduce water consumption. Give employees the knowledge to spot water leaks and wastage, and accessible channels to report such issues will create easy opportunities to reduce water reliance.

• Expand water recycling initiatives,

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• Use groundwater and rainwater harvesting to alleviate pressure on municipal supplies. Some larger sites invest in small reservoirs.

• Agriculture sites can invest in drip irrigation and a variety of new methods that significantly reduce water consumption. These techniques are very effective for crop farms, and livestock farms also benefit from reducing the water needed for feed crops.

• Prioritise leak detection and repair to minimise water losses. An unaddressed leak that leaks one drip every ten seconds can accumulate to 1 800 wasted litres a year. Ten such leaks mean 18 000 litres. The average middle-class house can waste as much as 38 000 litres a year – imagine how much leaks are costing businesses.