With the world’s population expected to grow by a third in just over 20 years, more and more people will be living under water stress. We’re already seeing global warming-related droughts that have caused major problems for farmers in places like California. And now we see less rainfall globally . This article will talk about five ways business leaders can help solve our water crisis.
1) Increase efficiency of water use:
Most people take water for granted as a ready and abundant resource. We actually assume that all companies already do their part to conserve water. But some major enterprises don’t even monitor their own water use, let alone try to reduce it. This has to change, and right away.
2) Improve water quality:
Water isn’t just a resource unto itself. It’s also an important part of the manufacturing process for almost everything we use or consume. And since most companies get their clean water from large municipal supplies, which in turn get it from lakes and rivers, you can imagine how much trash and other contaminants they’re getting along with it. What’s worse, the water that comes out of your faucets in your home has been treated for human consumption, but not necessarily for industrial uses. This means that manufacturing companies may be contaminating their own products before they even get to you.
3) Promote universal access to potable water:
The United Nations estimates that one in seven people on the planet doesn’t have access to clean, drinkable water. This is a global humanitarian crisis that we all need to take seriously. The best way to get these people what they need–clean drinking water–is by using business models that provide affordable bulk delivery of large quantities of good water.
4) Find new ways to conserve scarce resources:
Our natural resources are becoming increasingly hard to come by. This can be especially true for water as demand becomes greater and greater, so will the pressure on companies to find more efficient or alternative methods of getting what they need. Take purification systems, for example. In this case, companies can focus on using “green” or eco-friendly methods to remove contaminants from water.
5) Use technology to help develop and implement more effective solutions:
There should be no doubt that the most modern technologies at our disposal can provide us with new ways of addressing our growing problems. Today’s technology may allow us to find new ways of storing and accessing water in environments where it’s already scarce or finding ways to remove contaminants from dirty sources. And this is just the beginning.