Water action: Now, together!

I recently had the pleasure of joining Veolia CEO Estelle Brachlianoff and other Veolia colleagues at the United Nations 2023 Water Conference in New York. For the first time in more than four decades, the UN focused the world’s attention on what has been seen for too long as a regional problem, making clear that drought, scarcity, inadequate infrastructure and poor distribution of water resources affect the entire planet.

We spoke of solutions for water scarcity, of the need for increased attention and awareness on this issue, and for clear targets paired with commitments. Veolia announced a $1.5 billion annual investment to accelerate the company’s own action on water. We also featured the winners of the Industrial Water Reuse Champion Awards, recognizing APA Corporation, PepsiCo, and Intel Corporation as top companies that incorporate best-in-class water recycling and reuse programs. This award was developed by the WateReuse Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Veolia, and University of Pennsylvania Water Center as part of the U.S. EPA National Water Reuse Action Plan .

This was the first UN conference focused solely on water since 1977. So why now? I believe it is because the world is waking up to the fact that we have a serious challenge in front of us.

A Global Issue Impacting Local Communities

Water scarcity is facing communities around the world at an alarming rate. The World Economic Forum states that 3.6 billion people currently face inadequate access to water during at least one month per year. The UN-Water states the number of city inhabitants lacking safely managed drinking water has increased by more than 50% since 2000. 

Solving this challenge is urgent and crucial.  Even areas of the world that historically have had an abundance of water resources are seeing their reserve levels hit record lows at certain points of the year. Without clear and decisive action, things will only get worse. 

A changing climate is not only causing longer, more intense droughts and dry seasons, but also more concentrated extreme wet weather events. Communities are challenged to maintain adequate water supplies through periods of scarcity, then unable to capture and store enough water when it returns through intense weather and storms. All that is to say nothing of the dangerous flood and mudslide conditions those intense storms can bring.

But climate change is not the only issue impacting our water supplies. Proper investment in network infrastructure has been lacking for far too long, industry has been extracting far too much, and potable water is being overused and undervalued.

Using and Losing Too Much Water

Industrial Water Reuse

Water plays an integral role in virtually every industrial process from thermal power generation, to chemical processing, to electronics and semiconductor manufacturing, and much more. If you were to take a moment to look around at your surroundings right now, I can guarantee that water touched or enabled just about every single thing you see. There is massive opportunity for conservation in industrial processes by optimizing water cycle management, reducing loss and increasing industrial water reuse. We know this is possible because Veolia works with industrial companies to implement these solutions today.

Embracing Reclaimed Water

Another major conservation opportunity is to stop using our increasingly limited, high-quality drinking water pulled from dwindling natural reserves for things we don’t need it for. Many things we use perfectly clean, potable water for in the United States could be done just as well with water that has not been treated to full drinking standards. Toilets? Street cleaning? Crop irrigation? Using potable water in this way is to strongly undervalue this precious resource. These are perfect applications for reclaimed wastewater. In fact, high-quality drinking water itself can be produced from reclaimed wastewater as well. Facilities operating today in the United States, Namibia and Singapore are proving this is a solution to both avoid tapping into more natural resources and significantly reduce pollutant discharges.

Plugging the Leaks

The U.S. EPA estimates household leaks can waste nearly 1 trillion gallons of water annually nationwide. According to the U.S. EPA: “The average household’s leaks can account for nearly 10,000 gallons of water wasted every year and 10% of homes have leaks that waste 90 gallons or more per day.” There is a lot residents and property owners can do to tighten up their home’s water system and prevent leaks.

On the utility side, some systems can see 30% to 50% of water lost to network leakage. In New Jersey, when we found a water network was losing 27% of its water to leakages, we were able to reduce that figure to 17% by modernizing the network. Between implementing sensor technology and committing to maintenance and repairs, municipalities can greatly reduce water loss and thus conserve their water resources.

The Value of Water

There are many solutions in front of us, there are experts ready to meet the challenge, and there is capital ready to be invested. This is an entirely solvable issue. As Estelle Brachlianoff stated - “We need to scale up and speed up.” We need to properly value water. By properly valuing water, we establish effective incentives for its conservation. People want action, and surveys show they are willing to accept the costs because they agree that inaction will cost more than action. We need cooperation and coordination among governments, NGOs, and the private sector to develop effective partnerships with clear missions and tangible goals. 

Each country can and should be setting a “WNZ” (Water Net-Zero) goal for water use just as we have set goals for carbon emissions. This is 100% achievable. As Estelle Brachlianoff said, “Water isn’t a resource we can take for granted anymore. Success in protecting water will be based on carefully measuring and monitoring our use of water resources, by putting numbers and quantitative objectives on the table.” 

We have the solutions. Everyone has a role to play - legislators, municipalities, NGOs, the private sector and the residents in the communities where we live, work and play.

While over two billion people lack access to safe drinking water in the world and increasingly severe droughts impact more regions each year, many in developed nations are waking up to the fact they can no longer take this resource for granted. Water action: together, now!