Declining water supply brings a deluge of ideas
We live in a world in which 2.6bn people consume water from unsafe and polluted sources, according to United Nations figures. Against this, it takes up to 100,000 litres to produce 1kg of beef, 75 litres to make one computer chip and 780 litres to create one litre of fruit juice, says Waterwise, a UK non-governmental organisation - an idea known as "embedded water".
These realities are now colliding, with serious consequences for business. "Everyone understands that water is essential to life. But many are just beginning to grasp how essential it is to everything in life - food, energy, transportation, nature, leisure, identity, culture and virtually all products used on a daily basis," says Lloyd Timberlake of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a business think-tank, which next week launches a report on the subject.
Ford Motor's Southampton plant, for instance, uses 6,000 litres of water to make one Ford Transit van, including body construction, painting, trimming and final assembly. But Waterwise says the total figure is 150,000 litres if you include the water that goes into processing the van's components.
In the developed world, much of the water infrastructure must be replaced in the next 20 years, according to the Pacific Institute, a US think-tank, but other regions are at risk of more severe water supply problems.
In India, urban water demand is due to double and industrial demand to triple by 2025. Unreliable supply in Bangalore has already led information technology companies such as Wipro, iGate and MphasiS to consider other locations when they expand, says the Pacific Institute, while in 2003 PepsiCo and Coca-Cola lost their licences to use ground water in Kerala for their bottling plants after drought raised competition for the resource.
This month, they have faced calls for a ban in India after a report alleged their products contained high levels of pesticides. Coca-Cola was recently dropped from pension fund TIAA-Cref's Social Choice Account, partly because of concerns over its exploitation of water around the world.
Companies must be aware of the vulnerability of their supply chains in sectors as diverse as textiles, electronics and consumer products. "Water as a business risk issue is something that we will be looking at more and more over the next few years," says Nick Robins, head of socially responsible investment funds at Henderson Global Investors.
This explains why a company such as Unilever has initiatives ranging from a detergent that requires less rinsing for the Indian market to support for tomato farmers in Brazil to introduce drip irrigation, which cuts water use by 30 to 70 per cent, while increasing crop yields by 20 to 90 per cent, according to the World Resources Institute.
But there are also ample opportunities for business. The first issue to address if you want to reduce water use is how much you currently use, so organisations that provide metering systems, such as Itron of the US and Techem of Germany, are well placed.
Companies are also thriving by offering innovations in infrastructure replacement, filtration, irrigation and desalination. Amiad, an Israeli company listed on AIM, is doing well out of filtration and irrigation, and making inroads with drip irrigation systems that deliver fertiliser as well as water, saving on fertiliser and labour costs.
Developed countries will spend up to $1,000bn (￡527bn) on upgrading water and waste water systems in the next few decades, says Emma Howard Boyd, head of SRI at Jupiter Asset Management, while "demand for water from urban areas and industry in China is expected to grow by 70 per cent and 104 per cent respectively between 2010 and 2030". Among those poised to benefit are Asian water treatment companies such as HyFlux and Biotreat, both listed in Singapore.
Other innovators include Canada-based Pure Technologies, which has developed the SmartBall, an aluminium sphere equipped with a sensor, which travels along a pipeline pinpointing the location of leaks as it goes.
Insituform, a US-based company, has developed trenchless sewer repair technology that allows utilities to repair pipes without digging up roads.
It has worked in settings as varied as underneath the White House, in nuclear power plants and a Texas prison, which was keen to repair its pipes without putting temptation in the inmates' way.
Zander Group, a UK company, uses a moisture-retaining material to encourage desert reversal and revegetation. It works by releasing moisture to root systems over a prolonged period, reducing the need for irrigation or rainfall.
Its subsidiary, Clear Earth, will also use the material as an underlying layer for pavements and car parks, where it filters contaminants out of water run-off and allows the water time to filter back to the ground water rather than running off down the drain.
James Cameron, vice-chairman of Climate Change Capital, a UK bank focused on low-carbon projects, says: "Managing water will be a premium business to be in."
缺水危机引发创意洪流
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据联合国的数据，全世界有26亿人依赖不安全和受污染的水源。英国非政府组织Waterwise指出，与之形成对比的是，生产1公斤牛肉要消耗10万升水，制造1块电脑芯片需要75升水，生产1升果汁需要780升水――这种观点被称为“内含水”。
这些现实如今正在碰撞，对企业意味着严重后果。“大家都知道，水对生命不可或缺。但许多人才刚刚开始领悟，它对于生活中的一切事物是多么必不可少――食物、能源、交通、自然、休闲、身份、文化，以及几乎每天都要用的所有产品，”商业智库――促进可持续发展世界商业理事会(World Business Council for Sustainable Development)的劳埃德?蒂姆伯雷克(Lloyd Timberlake)表示。该理事会即将发布一份以此为主题的报告。
举例来说，福特汽车(Ford Motor)的南安普顿工厂制造一辆福特全顺(Transit)箱式货车需要6000升水，包括车身制造、上漆、清理焊缝和最终组装。但Waterwise称，如果算上用于加工箱式货车部件的水，总用水量是15万升。
据美国智库――太平洋研究所(Pacific Institute)称，在发达国家，大部分水资源基础设施必须在未来20年更换，而其它地区可能面临更严峻的供水问题。
到2025年，印度城市用水需求量将翻倍，而工业用水需求量将增加两倍。太平洋研究所称，班加罗尔不稳定的供水，已导致Wipro、iGate以及MphasiS等信息技术公司开始考虑到其它地区扩建业务。2003年，随着旱灾过后各方对水资源争夺的加剧，百事可乐(PepsiCo)和可口可乐(Coca-Cola)灌装厂丧失了使用喀拉拉邦地下水的许可。
本月有报道称，在这两家公司的产品中发现了高浓度的杀虫剂，它们面临着印度政府的禁售处罚。可口可乐最近被养老金TIAA-Cref从Social Choice Account基金持股中剔除，部分原因是对它在世界各地滥用水资源的担忧。
在纺织品、电子产品和消费品等多种行业，企业必须清楚供应链上的薄弱环节。“未来几年，我们将越来越关注水资源这个企业风险问题，”亨德森全球投资者公司(Henderson Global Investors)社会责任投资基金主管尼克?罗宾斯(Nick Robins)表示。
这解释了为什么联合利华(Unilever)等企业采取了各种行动计划，包括为印度市场提供需要较少漂洗的洗涤剂，以及支持巴西的西红柿种植户引入滴灌技术。据世界资源研究所(World Resources Institute)的数据，这种技术的用水量能减少30%至70%，同时使作物产量提高20%至90%。
但企业在这个领域也有丰富的机会。如果你想减少用水量，第一个要处理的问题，是弄清目前耗费了多少水，因此提供计量系统的公司处于有利地位，比如美国的Itron和德国的泰西姆(Techem)。
在基础设施更新换代、过滤、灌溉和淡化方面提供创新的企业，也得以蓬勃发展。在英国另类投资市场(AIM)上市的以色列阿米尔德(Amiad)公司在过滤和灌溉领域非常成功，推出了不仅能供水还能输送肥料的滴灌系统，可节省肥料及劳动力成本。
未来数十年，发达国家将花费高达1万亿美元，用于升级给排水系统，木星资产管理公司(Jupiter Asset Management)社会责任投资部门负责人艾玛?霍华德?博伊德(Emma Howard Boyd)表示，而“2010至2030年间，中国城市与工业用水需求量将分别增长70%和104%”。将因此而受益的企业包括亚洲的一些水处理公司，比如凯发(HyFlux)和金迪生物科技(Biotreat)，两家公司都在新加坡上市。
其它创新企业包括总部位于加拿大的Pure Technologies，它开发出了SmartBall，这是一个装入传感器的铝球，它沿管道移动，在行进中查明漏水位置。
还有总部位于美国的Insituform，它开发了非开挖下水道修复技术，使公用事业公司不必挖开路面就能修复管道。
它已在各种不同的场合大展身手――白宫地下、核电站，以及德州的一座监狱。这座监狱迫切希望修复管道，又不想令囚犯蠢蠢欲动。
英国公司Zander Group利用一种水分保持材料，扭转沙漠化进程，促进绿化。其原理是，在很长一段时期里向根系释放水分，降低植物对灌溉或降雨的需求。
它的子公司Clear Earth，也把这种材料用作人行道与汽车停车场的基底层，它能把污染物从雨水中过滤掉，并使水有足够时间渗透到地下水中，而不是从下水道流走。
气候变化资本集团(Climate Change Capital)是一家致力于低碳项目的英国银行，该银行副董事长詹姆斯?卡梅伦(James Cameron)说：“水管理将成为一项热门行业。”
