Never allow an excellent disaster visit waste.” This turned into a word Winston Churchill is credited with announcing closer to the stop of World War Two as he met with Stalin and Roosevelt, relating to the possibilities that gift themselves whilst the fame quo has been shattered.
The pandemic of 2020 supplied this type of disaster, as well as a definite set of possibilities for 2021, primarily in the water department.
It is now not just time to accelerate existing trends, such as virtual transformation, but also to seek those, in fact, disruptive changes that may result in more efficient, resilient, sustainable and low-cost water and wastewater solutions and services.
“This is a time to now no longer simply supercharge ongoing tendencies however to pursue virtually disruptive modifications.”
Meaning of Disruptive change
Change occurs in all businesses and workplaces, but some changes have a greater impact than others.
Gradual change is a typical element of a company maturing and growing, but major cultural or technological changes can fundamentally shift the industry.
These big adjustments in consumer expectations, known as disruptive transformation, impact the way organizations develop.
Disruptive Innovation In The Water Sector
The water business is currently faced with several difficulties, including a rapidly expanding population, the depletion of our traditional water sources, water scarcity brought on by climate change, and ineffective management of our water resources.
According to a recent United Nations report, nearly 2 billion people could experience water shortages by 2025, and now, 3.6 billion people live in places that are vulnerable to water scarcity.
To address these issues, the water supply planning paradigm will change over the next 10 to 15 years from relying solely on conventional freshwater resources to creating a diversified portfolio of environmentally sustainable water sources that balances more expensive but also more dependable and sustainable water supply alternatives like desalination and water reuse.
Nature teaches us that efficient circular paths of resource use, such as those for energy and water, are necessary for the sustainable existence of closed systems like our planet.
As a result, the key lesson from nature is that the circular economy is the only way to achieve sustainable economic growth on a global scale.
Water leaders are responsible for transforming water from a finite resource to a precious renewable resource and for integrating this resource into a strong circular economy.
The use of water resources in a rational, responsible, sustainable and renewable way is directly related to the circular economy.
Beyond the take-make-dispose extractive industrial model currently in use, the circular economy seeks to reinvent growth by emphasizing advantageous societal outcomes.
It requires designing waste out of the system and eventually separating economic activity from the use of restricted resources.
The circular model develops economic, ecological and social capital and is supported by a shift to renewable energy sources and water reuse.
Experience to date has shown that we must use next-generation water management tools and water service models based on a combination of technology and non-technological solutions to seamlessly integrate sustainable water management into the circular economy.
The water industry’s focus over the next 15 years will be on utilizing alternate water sources, finishing the material cycle and reducing energy use while also extracting as much energy and valuable substances as feasible.
Digital water, water reuse, resource recovery and desalination are the technologies for developing sustainable one-water management and incorporating water management into the circular economy by the year 2030.
It is anticipated that the disruptive technologies on the list below will speed the transition of water utilities to sustainability.
These technologies are projected to massively speed up the utility’s transition to sustainability by upending the status quo.
For a technology to be disruptive, it must be both unique and significantly (by at least 20%) more efficient than the ones it replaces.
Disruptive change in the water sector
What happens in 2021 is likely to be far more significant than we understand right now—either we return to doing things the old way, or we set the industry on an exceptional path.
Bluefield has a long list of desires, yet the water sector tends to shift 5 to ten-year increments rather than year-to-year.
However, there are certain issues that we would like to see and believe will occur that are worth mentioning:
Utilities use a ‘build back better’ strategy to survive the economic crisis.
Our review of 37 US utilities revealed choppy responses to the epidemic, with downward pressure on sales and capital investment decreases.
This is also a time to look for efficiency in critical areas such as work order administration, non-sales water reduction, and big data players becoming a part of the solution, inputting water areas in earnest with manageable off-the-shelf solutions for municipal operators.
Global information middle water consumption is expected to increase by thirteen percent to 221 million gallons in 2021.
Players like Google, Amazon and Apple have a significant role to play now not only in lowering their water footprint but also in using their AI powers to maximize water management.
Whether or not the Veolia-Suez merger intentions materialize, they contribute to good market development.
After acquiring Engie’s stock, Veolia’s quest to influence Suez was an ugly, highly fraught campaign, and a good method to restructure the global water region.
This should allow smaller organizations to capitalize on the combined entity’s integration challenges, while also putting a mixed company under the same time constraints.
Regulation of poly-fluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals gains national and international traction.
We published a focal point study earlier this year detailing the major challenges to PFAs infection remediation in 49 US states.
So far, only 12 states have set forth numerical limits for PFAS levels, with three additional states still in the process of setting the most contaminant levels (MCLs).
References
[1] Weinberg, G. L. (1994). A world at arms: A global history of World War II. Cambridge University Press.
[2] Cohen, A., & vom Saal, F. (2020). Non-toxic: Guide to Living Healthy in a Chemical World. Dr. Weil’s Healthy Living Guides
[3] https://www.fao.org/3/i7754e/i7754e.pdf
[4] https://thesolutionsjournal.com/2020/05/14/disruptive-innovation-water-sector/
