Water Sustainability is Everyone’s Responsibility
Looking forward 25 years, the water sector faces challenges from population growth, climate change, tightening environmental standards and changing customer expectations. Water is both challenging to manage and increasingly precious.
Within the next decade, approximately 1.8 billion people worldwide will be living in areas of absolute water scarcity.1 As a finite resource, access is at risk from an ongoing increase in need, this will continue to put pressure on identification of new water sources infrastructure planning and maintaining a balance with the environment within which we live.
Globally, utilities are spending nearly $184 billion each year related to the supply of clean water; $14 billion of which is spent on energy costs just to pump water around the current networks. 2
The water industry is acutely aware of the issues it faces, including environmental impacts, an aging infrastructure and increases in energy prices. Globally, utilities are spending nearly $184 billion each year related to the supply of clean water; $14 billion of which is spent on energy costs just to pump water around the current networks. 2
Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing the water industry today. Occurrence of extreme weather brought about as a result of global warming including floods and drought are increasing in regularity and severity. In the long term, areas of water scarcity are likely to become more pronounced as average temperatures rise and desertification of some regions becomes a real risk.
These challenges require significant further investment and continuing evolution of the water sector, and related agencies’, regulatory frameworks. Water is an absolute necessity to human life, we should not forget that it feeds countries and also their economies; water is essential to many industries. Given the link between gross domestic product (GDP) and the availability of drinking water, this vital resource is both a source of life and livelihood.
It is essential that we now see more integrated thinking in “cross-infrastructure” planning. This will ensure that the water sector can continue to deliver the outcomes customers, and societies, need, efficiently and effectively. ‘Smart Water Networks’ are integral to driving a more cohesive, cost efficient and effective water supply, waste water management and customer service through the capture, analysis and “near real time” information provision. This enables more informed and empowered decision making and assured customer service.
The primary focus is to increase service quality and efficiency whilst balancing the changing demands for water and long-term sustainability. These solutions enable water companies to monitor and diagnose the network and services, prioritise maintenance requirements and optimise all aspects of the network. As we drive forward in creating actionable intelligence we need to adapt how we operate, provide decision support information and react in real time.
The Water Sector alone cannot address all of these challenges; it requires all of us, consumers and business, we have a responsibility in the way we use water.
The Water Sector alone cannot address all of these challenges; it requires all of us, consumers and business, we have a responsibility in the way we use water. This needs to be supported by regulators, contractors, NGOs, researchers and the water companies, as well as technology and service providers.
DXC services and solutions are enablers in addressing some of these challenges and supporting water companies in the way that they serve their customers and industries. We see ‘Smart Water Networks’ as integral to driving a more cohesive, cost efficient and more effective water supply, waste water management and customer service.
DXC identifies with a Smart Water Network market as an integration of smart hardware devices, smart technology solutions, and services into the legacy water distribution infrastructure. The primary focus is to increase service quality and efficiency addressing the changing demands for water and long-term sustainability and has potential to intelligently operate, provide decision support information and react in real time.
By working with our partners, water companies, other industries and start-ups and collaborating with regulators and academia, DXC is developing solutions to enable the water companies to respond to these growing demands.
1 https://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity.shtml
2 Multi Sourced
https://www.swan-forum.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/218/2016/05/sensus_water2020-usweb.pdf https://archive.innovyze.com/news/showcases/RealtimemodelingofwaterdistributionsystemsJAWWAsept2014.pdf