Water and the lack of it - not global warming – has been cited by water experts as the major problem of the twenty first century.
Those living in the Middle East understand this better than most. The CEO of Israel’s national water carrier Mekorot announced recently that if the coming winter is as dry as last year’s, there will be cuts in supply and the public will be forced to change water consumption habits.
Baruch (Booky) Oren, President and CEO of Arison Water Initiative, the Israeli Water Technologies and Environmental Control Organization, claims the world water market stands today at approximately $504 billion: “About 2 billion people around the world either lack access to sufficient quantities of water or are supplied with water unfit for drinking,” he explained, “and this shortage is going to worsen in the near future due to the rise of the world’s population and to the redistribution of water recourses due to global warming.”
Joerg Baur of the Swiss Bank UBS elaborated: “Increased demand from the increased industrial production in emerging markets has strained worldwide water resources. Underinvestment in infrastructure has resulted in great inefficiencies. Cities like London and Shanghai are wasting more than 60% of their water supply due to something as simple to fix as leaky pipes.”
To correct a “simple” problem like leaky pipes, governments will be required to lay out enormous sums of money. In England alone estimates put government spending on water infrastructure at $40 billion over the next five years. The outlay of the U.S. government could exceed $900 billion just to maintain the infrastructure. Over the next several years, China will part with $125 billion to clean up and improve the quality of its water.
Baur further elaborated, “The production of one kilogram of beef requires up to 15,000 liters of water. The production of one cotton T shirt requires 2000 liters of water.” Cotton crops need substantial irrigation during the summer months.
CEO Oren, however, remains optimistic. “Necessity is the mother of invention,” he claims. “Water shortage is a problem we in Israel have been acquainted with for quite some time. We’re situated in one of the most arid regions in the world, and we have always had to develop new ways of national water management, drip irrigation, recycling and purifying wastewater, water desalination and even alternative energy-geothermal power technologies. As a result, Israel is poised to play a major role in supplying the world with cutting-edge water and environmental solutions,” he asserts.
According to Oren, national water supplier Mekorot has 3,000 installations serving as test-bedding for more than 200 new water and environmental technologies. With more venture dollars being invested in Israel than in most U.S. states or other countries in the world, proven water and environmental solutions are moving to the fore.
Desalination is cheaper than ever and technologies like drip irrigation enable sparing water use. As water and energy technologies merge, overall efficiency needs to be considered to minimize a global warming effect. 100% purified water won’t get used for agriculture.
Combined technologies and entrepreneurship present opportunities for savvy investors. Water utilities, desalination and chemical treatment companies, pump and pipe producers and other infrastructure, sanitation and irrigation device makers and water consultants will be primary beneficiaries of budding technologies.
Oren predicts water technology as a top Israeli export of the future.
Investing in the water field will not yield instant profit and investors may stall until the reality of global warming and the belief that water, the neglected stepsister of global warming, is in trouble sinks in.
For those in the know, the time is now. “We need to make peace with our neighbors because of water, instead of fighting wars over water,” Oren concluded.
Source: Globes Online
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