Industry to play critical role in U.S. water security
More than a third of states already face “medium” to “extremely high” water stress today.
Water stress is expected to increase 9% on average across the US by 2050.
Industry can increase water efficiency by up to 40% with automaton and digital technologies.
These are just a few of the eye-popping headlines from the analysis underlying a new white paper released by Schneider Electric at this week’s WEFTEC 2024, North America’s most comprehensive gathering of water quality professionals. The analysis—produced in conjunction with Bluefield Research—also indicates that water stress is expected to increase in 40 out of 50 states between now and 2050.
“It’s encouraging that water availability and security are government priorities,” said Aamir Paul, president of North America operations, Schneider Electric. “As one of the largest users of freshwater resources, industry has a responsibility to adopt more circular water management practices to preserve reserves for the future.”
The analysis shows that the energy sector has the largest freshwater withdrawals across all industrial sectors, using nearly 52 billion gallons of water each day (BGD), equivalent to 78,788 Olympic pools of water. Today, the other sectors using significant amounts of water include chemicals & pharma (3.9 BGD), pulp & paper (3.5 BGD), food & beverage (1.5 BGD), mining (1.6 BGD), semiconductor (0.2 BGD) and data centers (0.2 BGD). Looking ahead to 2050, daily water withdrawals are expected to increase significantly, the white paper reports.
The research goes on to highlight how, through the implementation of automation and digital technologies, industry can be more efficient in its water usage, adopting more circular water management practices to reduce water usage and minimize waste.
To read the research findings in full, download your own copy of the white paper.
