The world is facing a massive water crisis. Today, 1.42B people, including 450M children, live in areas that are highly vulnerable to water scarcity. The reason? Urbanization, rising competition for water and climate change.
Resilient water sources are essential to life, of course, as well as for economic and global sustainability. The energy, mining, agriculture and textile industries are the largest consumers of this finite resource. Even industries like IT rely heavily on water. Research shows that a typical data center requires 3-5M gallons of water daily to keep its servers running optimally. Companies are finally recognizing the importance of water in their operations, product lifecycles and supply chains and are taking proactive steps to solve this crisis.
By adopting cloud, data and AI solutions, organizations can revolutionize their approach to water sustainability and positively impact the environment, society and their bottom line.
By adopting cloud, data and AI solutions, organizations can now monitor their green water usage in real-time, which can help supercharge their water sustainability goals. To learn more check out our latest blog on Revolutionizing water sustainability for enterprises.
Building trust through measured water consumption
Measuring water consumption can help your business address the global water crisis to a large extent. It can help you identify areas where you use excessive amounts of water and develop strategies to reduce consumption - improving resource management, saving money and protecting the environment.
The green water percentage is a key sustainability metric that industries can rely on to measure their water use. This metric measures the proportion of water used that comes from sustainable sources. It can provide valuable insights into water use efficiency, enabling organizations to identify opportunities to reduce their reliance on non-renewable water sources such as surface water and groundwater. Businesses can use this metric to minimize their environmental footprint and strengthen resilience to water scarcity over time.
Transforming water consumption with cloud, data analytics, AI and blockchain
Let's look at how cloud, data analytics, AI and blockchain technologies can drive positive change and optimize water consumption practices.
Cloud
The cloud helps industries with secure storage and seamless integration of water consumption data collected from multiple sources, such as sensors, manual inputs and meters.
Also, the cloud eliminates the need for on-premises infrastructure, making operations flexible and cost-effective. Companies using the cloud save 20% on infrastructure costs annually.
Data analytics
With data analytics, companies can gain insights into water usage data. They can identify anomalies and trends and comprehensively understand their water usage patterns. For instance, data analytics can help companies detect leaks by identifying unusual usage patterns.
By analyzing historical data, organizations can identify focus areas, track progress toward water sustainability and set standards for efficient water usage.
AI
AI technologies such as predictive modeling and machine learning can improve the speed and accuracy of monitoring, predicting and optimizing water consumption. Organizations can train machine learning algorithms to analyze complex data on water consumption and identify patterns that indicate inefficiencies.
Blockchain and shared ledger technologies
Data verification between these entities is critical in ensuring compliance and effective risk management in freshwater value chains involving multiple parties. Blockchain technology offers a robust solution by enabling the sharing of verifiable information across the ecosystem. In turn, this paves the way for innovative collaboration methods along the value chain, such as facilitating seamless digital compliance checks and streamlining water-sharing processes.
Best practices for implementing water sustainability solutions
Next let's look at how organizations can implement innovative processes to achieve water sustainability.
Select the right technology partner
Select technology partners with domain knowledge in water sustainability and expertise in developing data, cloud and AI solutions for water consumption management.
Set clear goals and metrics
Define clear goals, set key performance indicators (KPIs) for water conservation and use them to identify areas for improvement and track progress.
Involve relevant stakeholders
Engage with internal and external stakeholders to create a sense of shared responsibility and to gain their support for sustainability initiatives.
Integrate water sustainability into the CSR strategy
Embed water sustainability into your broader corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy and align your efforts with the ESG framework to make it an integral part of your corporate agenda.
Embracing water sustainability with AquaSphere
Redefine your organization's water sustainability efforts with HCLTech's AquaSphere. This cutting-edge solution combines the capabilities of intelligent processes, the SAP Blockchain Business Connector and the SAP Datasphere to automate and digitize your water conservation practices. AquaSphere offers a robust system that enables real-time monitoring, analysis and reporting of water usage metrics. Constantly monitoring and improving water usage can help your organization build trust and credibility with stakeholders such as customers, investors and regulators.
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