The Impact on Home Care of Water Scarcity: Conservation and New Sources of Water

Introduction

Scope

What this Report Series is all About

How this report fits into the overall picture for water scarcity

Key findings: introduction, conservation and new sources of water

Report 1 focuses on macro aspects creating water scarcity today

A snapshot of topics in report 1: conservation and new sources

Report 2 looks at products and appliances addressing water scarcity

Snapshot of topics in report 2 : “low water products and appliances”

A water scarcity spotlight: HydroFinity’s polymer saves 80% water

A water scarcity spotlight: the Cape Town “Day Zero” case study

If you have already examined other reports in the water series…

The wettest place on earth is also one of the most water scarce

Water can be the great peace maker and equaliser

A water treaty (1996) normalised relations between India and Bangladesh

However, water is intrinsically linked to massive levels of inequality

There is a major “water wealth” disparity in types of problem felt

The UN’s development goals are heavily reliant on water equality

Water scarcity by region and the current “hot spots” for shortages

Climate change is increasing the frequency of floods and shortages

We see this in knock-on economic impacts from crises over time

UN precipitation predictions are that scarce regions will get worse

Economically created water scarcity adds to the problem

Water is breaking into the agenda for governments and business

Water scarcity crises are also driving greater public awareness

Abundant water, food and economic progress are inter-connected

Cost of water redistribution remains one of the key barriers

Water is buried inside many of the things we import and wear

Another country’s water is also hidden inside many imported foods

Crazy as it might sound, embedded water is even inside water

Major exporters of products with embedded water are running dry

Water scarcity grows in key food and cotton exporting countries

Water stress increases when embedded exporters cut back supply

UK is looking at 25% of its food supply with extreme cost increases

Water conflict and resource jealousy exists within everyday society

The role of water in economic development and standard of living

Some key statistics: water withdrawn, who is using it, to what end

Conclusions include a water withdrawal link to income and BMI

A sign of trouble is large withdrawal and farms taking 60% or more

Countries withdrawing around 7% or more self-harm on biodiversity

Our understanding of the full embedded water “cost” is improving

New underground scanning technology illuminates aquifer issues

Urbanisation creates contradictions for water scarcity

Cities have better infrastructure but also larger thirstier populations

It would be a mistake to think this will not affect us all eventually

Water Scarcity Psychologies

Water drives three psychologies in a person and community

These psychologies relate to the severity of issues from shortages

A psychology of water: abundance – example the UK

Even water-abundant markets will feel the global water scarcity

A UK example: importing avocados from a water-scarce region

A psychology of water: compromise – example the US

Water scarcity changes purchasing priorities if felt long enough

A psychology of water: crisis – example Cape Town, South Africa

Entering the mindset of a water crisis has effects beyond the crisis

Transition periods between these psychological states are valuable

Conservation of Water

Before seeking new water, we must protect what we already have

NRW (or non-revenue water) comes via leaks, theft and bad debt

The UN provides guidelines on sustainable water management

Degrees of leakage and the subsequent investment vicious circle

The status of water regulation so far

Gross margin achievement by region is from 20% to 70%

Continuous rising cost of water will drive investment and attention

Abundant water makes utilities and regulators lazy on leakages

Smart meters are a technology keystone to an anti-leak strategy

Looking at usage (and wastage) happening at the macro level

Conservation of Water: Agriculture

71% of treated water goes to farming; clearly “low hanging fruit”

The catch 22 of creating both hygienic water and safe-to-eat food

Water gets embedded in farming produce and exported

The exporting of embedded water is unsustainable in multiple ways

India is building towards break point and exemplifies the issue

This is already driving a change in where we get our protein from

Once cattle exports reduce, are insects the protein replacement?

Global food security is also threatened by rising sea levels

Conservation of Water: Industry

Industry is mainly about energy, and this is focusing on sea water

Sustainability plans are all starting to contain water reduction goals

Fmcg brands tend to be ahead, embracing water reduction targets

Water awareness campaigns come from fmcg brands and NGOs

Conservation of Water: Homes and Domestic Use

Water use at home is a focus topic for two reports in this series

Mild scarcity is regulated by social stigma around wasteful abuses

As the crisis deepens however, home use takes a very severe hit

Utility companies give generic water saving advice with low impact

In a crisis, consumers do not need generic water data, but specific

It is a hygiene issue in homes if pollution is seen as “cost effective”

Even “harsh” penalties can leave pollution as an economic choice

India’s capital Delhi is again the exemplar of “worst case scenario”

New Sources of Water

Not solving water scarcity in a region will impact everyone nearby

Finding new sources of water: technologies and experiments

Desalination is an outstanding solution to create new drinking water

Four barriers to desalination being a full solution to water scarcity

Only two of those barriers have been overcome so far

First issue: Scarcity affects inland regions, desalination does not

A “drop in the ocean” creates a much larger splash in the sea

Bore holes give good medium-term access to a new (finite) supply

We sometimes get more than we bargained for with drilled “water”

Turning to some of the less concrete solutions being explored

Weather modification and cloud seeding

Bacteria and algae that eat waste and can clean the water

Sponge cities and waste water reclamation efforts

At the other end of the realism scale sits “iceberg recovery”

There is no magic bullet, all the potential solutions have limitations

Recovery of Used Water

Grey “used” water defined: what’s in…and what’s out?

What uses are typically made of grey water in the home?

It is normal in Brazil to use laundry water on floors and the garden

60% of Japanese homes re-use bath water for laundry

There are anti-odour products for re-using bath water in laundry

Alternative water sources (grey and rainwater) for use in laundry

Home garden irrigation can be set up to use grey water on plants

There are implications to laundry grey water used in the garden

New build housing has game changer trends: Aquarevo Australia

Singapore has been a role model city for future water management

Conclusions for this Report

Water is one of three life preservation resources (plus food and air)

Europe is already affected directly by water scarcity in Africa

The US faces similar migration concerns around Mexico City

Isolationism and selfishness are self-defeating for water scarcity

Stepping back to look at actions from a wider perspective

Our current path and our current attitudes cannot remain as they are

Water scarcity is rarely an easy topic: this is life and death for many

Water also complicates many aspects of “right and wrong”

So what are we doing about it? Current macro trends

Extrapolating: so where do these macro trends take us?

We must fix this…therefore we will fix this. What other choice?

This series examines products in the psychology of “compromise”

A spotlight report in this series examines the psychology of “crisis”

A spotlight report in this series examines HydroFinity (formerly Xeros)

Water in the world today is a good news/bad news story

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