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The Demand for Water
Faced with climate change and population growth, more cities work to ensure the well does not run dry
By Cathy Chatfield-Taylor
Water is essential for life, but most people take it for granted until there's not enough — or too much. When reservoirs evaporate and water is rationed, people tend to take notice. When storm waters overwhelm sewer systems and pollutants float to the surface, they become alarmed. How to manage water has become a pivotal challenge, not only in regions plagued by droughts and floods but also in metropolitan areas where once-abundant supplies are becoming scarce.
It would not be an exaggeration to say water is a matter of national security. If a water supply is cut off, it can leave a nation in peril. Throughout the world, lack of clean water devastates the human health and economic prosperity of vast regions. Water, or the lack of it, can render a city of any size uninhabitable.
The Mother of Invention
Driven by challenges such as water scarcity, population growth and uncertain threats from natural disasters and climate change, city leaders and those in the water sector are rethinking how to ensure adequate supplies of clean water are available to sustain urban growth and development. New models are emerging that close the loop on water use and create an efficient city water cycle.
“Many cities in the world get water from the river far upstream, use the water, pollute it, clean it and put it back in the river far downstream. That is the linear paradigm,” says Paul Reiter, executive director of the London-based International Water Association (IWA). “In that process, water is used once. It doesn’t get used efficiently. The nutrients don’t get recovered, and we consume a lot of energy.”
The alternative envisioned by the IWA Cities of the Future program reengineers water, wastewater and stormwater management systems to minimize water use and maximize service-area coverage. Best practices in water management are now at work around the world.
Excerpt from "The Demand for Water," The Wall Street Journal Special Advertising Section, March 11,2011. Copyright 2011, Dow Jones & Company, Inc., New York, NY. |
