As I paced around the Water Expo, looking at all the new technologies and listening in to the conversations of members of the industry, one big question popped into my head: what does the water industry need now?

After flipping through the countless interviews and notes that I gathered, I saw one word being repeated again and again: Energy. Everyone knows that the water industry is facing challenges at the moment. The world’s water supply is currently running low, and there is nothing we can do to stop it. However, that fact is not apparent when one walks through the water expo and looks at all the new and innovative water treatment solutions offered by the different exhibitors. But wait – consider this fact: a conventional water treatment plant pumps out treated water at the cost of around 1.7kWh/m3.

And what I eventually realized was that it was not only a water problem, it was a collective problem of a shortage of resources that the earth was facing. There was enough evidence to prove that, if we do not start conserving water, we might one day have such a lack of energy that we would have to channel the electricity used to power our home and offices to water treatment plants in order to just sustain human life.

What was the solution then? Some research online showed that the United Nations have developed a set of Millennium Development Goals (MDG). In the MDG, environmental sustainability and water was outlined as a key issue alongside poverty, health and global partnership. Surely, there must be a reason for grouping these issues together. These issues are definitely interrelated; in achieving one goal, the others would come closer to actualization.

Another quick search on Google with the keywords “water” and “energy” turned out this article from Scientific American. What stood out to me was the lead – “Water is needed to generate energy. Energy is needed to deliver water. Both resources are limiting the other—and both may be running short. Is there a way out?”

The solution for the problem is quite obvious then – the water industry has to engage and collaborate with companies from the energy sector to optimize their processes, and there needs to be a collective effort on the part of world leaders and industry players to work toward a more sustainable environment for humankind.

Posted by Paul Leng, School of Film & Media Studies, Ngee Ann Polytechnic