Fresh water is becoming increasingly scarce worldwide, and this trend is expected to intensify in the coming decades. Currently, between 500 million and 2 billion people are living in conditions of water stress. By 2025, 2.6 to 3.1 billion people – one third of the world’s population – will be living in water-stressed conditions, and water use is expected to increase by 22%. At the same time, over-extraction and contamination are exerting major impacts on surface water and groundwater quality – in both developed and developing countries. Organizations such as United Nations, International Water Management Institute and World Wildlife Fund are tackling these challenges in significant yet different ways. VIEW>

Scarcity of water supply from shortages and deteriorating quality affects businesses' operational security and has an impact on direct costs and profits. In addition to the direct economic impacts from loss of production and increasing water costs, there are indirect costs such as employee illness, restricted consumer markets and supply chain interruptions. Corporations that directly use water for production as well as those that do not are subject to these indirect risks. Institutional investors, in turn, face water-related risks from the corporations in which they invest. VIEW>

The global need for reliable water supply and wastewater treatment is a multibillion-dollar opportunity for businesses — especially those that are able to supply solutions and products that function without fresh water or reduce dependency on fresh water. By investing in technological innovation and creating new products and services, companies can generate new revenue streams while reducing their own water needs and those of their customers. Research and development (R&D) into proprietary process improvements that use less water may generate license fees and royalties or provide competitive advantage as future water shortages create demand for water-efficient process technologies. VIEW>