The Global Water Industry

There has recently been a historic increase in the public awareness of global water issues. Virtually every country in the world is faced with some combination of water quality and quantity issues that will require significant expenditures for their resolution. It is clear that not only human health but, also, environmental protection and economic development are critically dependent upon the efficient management of this increasingly scarce resource. The water industry is poised for considerable growth as convergent technologies and institutional changes combine to address the global demand for clean water.

The world’s water resource is a vital component to the long-term health and stability of every economy across the globe. The management, proper use and distribution of this life sustaining resource are a complex and top priority for the U.S. and Third World countries alike. As the third largest industry, water is increasingly on demand for growing populations, industrial production, irrigation, consumption and livestock.

The provision of healthful drinking water has implications that span the entire spectrum of human existence.  At the same time, the consumptive use of water cannot be disassociated from the planet’s ecological balance.  Because the hydrologic cycle is, practically speaking, a closed system, the Earth’s biosphere contains all of the water that it will ever have.  Its allocation, treatment, consumption and discharge, however, are subject to the institutions, practices and technologies that are put in place by mankind.  Consequently, the economic value of water will play a major role in defining the future of water usage.