News

Long before the time of water management companies, the Ancient Mariner once famously bemoaned there was “water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink”.  That chap, of course, was lost out at sea… but he had a point.  Only 3% of water on the planet is unsalted.  2% of that freshwater is in glaciers and icecaps and therefore inaccessible and that leaves us with… let me see if I can do the maths… 1%.  However, 20% of that 1% is either impossible to tap or unusable.  Even if you had no head for numbers, you can quickly appreciate what a precious resource the wet stuff really is. Think about it - If we don’t drink water we’re likely to die within days.  It’s not particularly different for business, which often relies on water in terms of their production processes.  And it’s not just the obvious industries, like the water that goes into the manufacture of the cotton that makes clothes.  For instance, Intel estimates it takes 16 gallons of water to produce a single chip, and they consider it so important that Intel’s water use is now listed on the company website, including the names of rivers from which it’s drawn.  Coca Cola uses 333 ounces of water to make $1 of revenue, and they are also now keen to detail their water usage in annual reports, and to make a play of their water neutrality.

Managing the water supply

As individuals, and as companies, we are more and more aware of how precious a resource fresh water is.  Hollywood makes dark, dystopian movies about a world without fresh water and with good reason - in personal terms, an American will go through 100 gallons of water a day.  In Africa, it’s more like 5. Water management companies dedicate themselves to the optimum use of this resource, and also reducing the impact of personal and business water usage on the environment.  It’s a complicated business.  Water, as a natural resource, has no respect for national borders, and in itself this can cause conflict.  However as demands increase - and the weather seems to become increasingly unpredictable - it is ever more prescient for us, as individuals, to think about our own water usage, and for water management companies to continue to be efficient in their strategic approach to water supply.