WILMINGTON, Del., Nov. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Economist Impact
today launched the inaugural City Water Optimisation Index,
sponsored by DuPont, which will measure how well cities around the
world are safeguarding the reliability, accessibility, and
sustainability of water resources. The Index can serve as a
measurement tool for city leaders, policymakers, and regulators to
make resource, investment and policy decisions toward increased
access to safe, affordable, and reliable water.
Unlike other indices, which focus on water scarcity or water
quality, the City Water Optimisation Index creates a common
framework to benchmark numerous factors that contribute to an
optimized and ample water supply. Its
findings incorporate 47 quantitative and qualitative
indicators that assess how well each city's policies and
infrastructure safeguard water supply, treatment, and distribution
networks.
With climate change increasingly challenging our water supplies
and the projected urban population growth, the Index is a powerful
tool for decision-makers around the world to measure how well their
cities are prepared to deliver safe, reliable, sustainable access
to water. The Index can also be used by cities to develop and
refine their water strategies, learn from other cities' successes
and setbacks, and prioritize projects and policies that will have
the greatest impact on water optimization, and thus water
security.
The results of the Index are encouraging, with cities with
diverse geography, climate, and socioeconomic factors achieving
commendable results in two of the three categories—Reliability and
Accessibility. The results were mixed, however, in the
Sustainability category, measuring how waste is minimized and
efficiency is maximized, a key factor in ensuring water
accessibility for future generations. Highlights of the
findings of the City Water Optimisation Index
include:
- Los Angeles earned the highest
overall score in the Index, followed closely by Melbourne. Both cities are focused on
sustainability and creative approaches to mitigate pending water
scarcity challenges.
- National income is not as important a factor in the pursuit of
water systems optimization as one might assume. Low- and
middle-income cities frequently ranked among the top performers in
at least one of the main categories in the index.
- Cities need to think of water management as a circular process,
focusing on water reuse and reclamation to mitigate current and
impending freshwater shortages. While reclamation and reuse were a
key deficiency found in many cities in the Index, the survey
revealed high public favorability overall (61%) towards drinking
treated reclaimed water.
- 41 cities have incorporated accounting and auditing of their
water systems for water resource management; 33 of those cities
have also adopted real-time monitoring. A smaller number of mostly
high-income cities have started deploying smart meters, some
accompanied by A.I. and machine learning platforms.
- There is much opportunity to improve optimization through
sustainability—especially through low-cost, high-reward
investments. One example is modifying building codes to encourage
water conservation, a provision lacking in many cities.
In addition to the report, Economist Impact launched two
interactive tools for the public— including city leaders— to
explore data and scoring across the first 51 cities featured
in the Index. With the City Water Optimiser Tool, users can adjust
many of the 47 levers to learn which steps may best improve water
reliability, accessibility, and sustainability, and uncover
opportunities to optimize a city's water environment—contributing
to the planning and prioritization of local water
efforts.
"Water is becoming an ever-increasing challenge for city
leaders around the world, with climate change and urban population
growth further adding to the pressure," said Claire Casey, Global Head of Policy &
Insights, Economist Impact. "Though the challenge is daunting, our
research makes me hopeful that we can shift our future from the
risk and stress of water scarcity to the untapped potential of
water abundance. Through careful planning, effective governance and
robust technology adoption, city water systems can be optimized to
provide clean, abundant and affordable water for all — now and for
decades to come."
"At DuPont, our purpose is to deliver solutions that address
society's most pressing challenges, including a strategic focus on
clean water," said Alexa Dembek,
DuPont Chief Technology & Sustainability Officer. "From
innovating sustainable water technologies to sponsoring this Index,
we see a clear path toward optimizing the global water supply to
enable people, industry, and the environment to thrive."
The Index is a key part of DuPont's efforts to lead global
collaboration toward a more water-optimized world.
"We envision a future where the world's 7.8 billion people all
have daily access to safe, clean water; where makers and producers
have the necessary water to make the products, food and energy on
which we rely; and together we optimize the circular nature of
water in a sustainable, equitable way," said HP Nanda, Global Vice
President and General Manager, DuPont Water Solutions. "We believe
this starts with a common set of indicators, global conversations
on impactful solutions, and collective action inspired by this
knowledge."
DuPont has a broad portfolio of sustainable water purification
and separation technologies and solutions that enable water reuse
and recycling, desalination and groundwater access, including
reverse osmosis (RO) membranes, ion exchange resins (IEX),
ultrafiltration (UF), electrodeionization (EDI), nanofiltration
(NF), membrane bioreactor systems (MBR), membrane aerated biofilm
reactors (MABR), membrane degasification, and closed-circuit
reverse osmosis (CCRO) systems.
The report is the product of a two-year effort. After
formulating the Index, the Economist Impact research team gathered
data on 51 cities around the world, incorporating data records,
local interviews, and public perception surveys. The team plans to
add another 50 cities to the index in 2022.
For the full report, Index, and City Water Optimiser Tool, visit
https://impact.economist.com/sustainability/project/water-optimisation
About Economist Impact:
Economist Impact combines the rigour of a think-tank with the
creativity of a media brand to engage a globally influential
audience. We believe that evidence-based insights can open debate,
broaden perspectives and catalyse progress. The services offered by
Economist Impact previously existed within The Economist Group as
separate entities, including EIU Thought Leadership, EIU Public
Policy, Economist Events, EBrandConnect and SignalNoise. Our track
record spans 75 years across 205 countries. Along with creative
storytelling, events expertise, design-thinking solutions and
market-leading media products, we produce framework design,
benchmarking, economic and social impact analysis, forecasting and
scenario modelling, making Economist Impact's offering unique in
the marketplace. Visit www.economistimpact.com for more
information.
About DuPont
DuPont (NYSE: DD) is a global innovation leader with
technology-based materials and solutions that help transform
industries and everyday life. Our employees apply diverse science
and expertise to help customers advance their best ideas and
deliver essential innovations in key markets including electronics,
transportation, construction, water, healthcare and worker safety.
More information about the company, its businesses and solutions
can be found at www.dupont.com. Investors can access information
included on the Investor Relations section of the website at
investors.dupont.com.
DuPont™, the DuPont Oval Logo, and all trademarks and service
marks denoted with ™, SM or ® are owned by
affiliates of DuPont de Nemours, Inc. unless otherwise
noted.
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