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Welcome to World Ocean Radio…
I’m Peter Neill, Founder of the World Ocean Observatory.
If the ocean is water, and water is life, and drought is a pervasive condition in a climate-changing world, then we must look for solutions in the places most critically affected: India is one, where, as in all things, the scale of the crisis, and its impact on millions in a nation of multi-millions, demands response through imagination and risk.
There are several ways to approach the problem. First, there is recognition of the extent of the crisis beyond the locality dry fields and exhausted wells, by government as a national crisis. Second, there is the context and degree of support for innovation. Third, there is the capital, intellectual and financial, to be committed at risk with almost immediate calculation of success and return on investment.
A recent article from changestarted.com, identifies water scarcity as the foremost challenge to national and regional financial security and public health in the world’s fastest growing major economy. Whie the causes are familiar – population growth, social expansion, urbanization, over-exploitation of groundwater, insufficient water management, pollution, outdated infrastructure, waterway pollution, and inefficient small-scale irrigation – exacerbated by the new extremes of climate-change-induced weather conditions on which the entire system has traditionally relied. The need for water conservation, at the least, is immediate and critical.
The article lists 9 Indian water tech innovations that I list here as a demonstration of the ingenuity and extent of invention in response. They are: Digital Paani, a software system for improved, automated analysis and water management at industrial and municipal facilities; WEGoT Utility Solutions, a metering system through free hardware and monthly subscription to detect leaks, prevent water theft, and reduce consumption through wide market accessibility; Uravu Labs: a technology to convert atmospheric moisture into high-quality drinking water using only solar, waste heat, and biomass energy; Vassar Labs, an analytic platform to provide real-time data from satellites, sensor and models to visualize water assets across villages, cities, and districts to guide water consumption decisions; Boon: new provision of water purification solutions to include solar-powered water stations for events, railway stations, and low-income housing communities; Aqua Water Systems, a combined system for fair distribution of water through an app to connect certified suppliers of water jars, tankers, conservation accessories, and purifiers; Nimble Vision, inventor of wi-fi enabled smart water controllers and meters to optimize usage and alerts for leaks, overflows, sump level tracking, and abnormal usage; and Ekam Eco Solutions: providers of an economized, waterless urinal systems for airports hotels, cinemas, and commercial complexes saving millions gallons of water annually per unit.
The article concludes: “Currently, India represents 17% of the world’s population; however, it has access to only 4% of global freshwater resources. The country’s complex water issues require more than isolated efforts; they demand a collaborative ecosystem. These innovators can assure that every Indian has reliable access to clean water, preserving this precious resource for generations to come.”
The challenge is not limited to India. And we will need all the invention we have to meet the evident challenge. Where I live, on the Atlantic Rim, we have had drought conditions all summer long with visible consequence for home gardeners, farmers, plant and animal migration, tourism, public health, and other subtle, but very real consequences for a social organization inexperienced and unprepared for the change. The point to be made is that no matter where you live today, how you live today, or what you understand as essential for the support of your intended way of life, every drop of water matters and we would do well to build into our values, structures, and behaviors a new recognition of the essence of water -- underground, in the atmosphere, and in the ocean that encompasses the vast hydraulic system in which we live.
We will discuss these issues, and more, in future editions of World Ocean Radio.
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